Book I - Ties That Bind
by Fenix Uzumaki
Summary: A season one rewrite based on what would have happened if Elevator Monster had delivered Chiro to Skeleton King instead of leaving him in the Pit of Doom. What if Chiro wasn't exactly human? What if he was from the same time as the Monkeys were created and sent forward in time to protect him? What if the Chosen One was corrupted? Would the team be able to save their leader?
1. Prologue

.~*Book One – Ties that Bind*~.  
By: Fenix Uzumaki and CadySinclair

 _Welcome to our first story, inspired by "Pit of Doom" and the rest of the season one, for the Super Robot Monkey Team fandom. Fenix came up with the idea years ago for a "Pit of Doom" rewrite when she realized how silly it was that Elevator Monster did not take Chiro to the Citadel of Bone when he captured him but instead left him in an area where the monkeys could reach him._

 _Things have changed since that idea, and while that will be the main plot, new ideas have surfaced into a brand new story. A new past for the team, surprising connections, and an idea from "Golden Age" where I [Fenix] believe we met Chiro's father, but that timeline doesn't make sense... or does it? In such a day an age of advance technology, is it not possible for a time machine to have been made? After all, it's shown in the show that Chiro has no family other than the team, so just where did he come from? I've also taken some liberties with the episode "Golden Age" and changed a few things around._

 _This story will cover "Season One", with some very noticeable differences from the show, starting with "Pit of Doom" and ending with "Skeleton King"._

 _CadySinclair has provided a new OC character named CG-5, or Cogs. All other characters belong to the show's creators. Thanks for reading and we hope you enjoy!_

.~*~*~*~.

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 **Prologue**

The Alchemist frowned as he looked into the face of the toddler waddling around the large laboratory, exploring under the careful watch of Mandarin while the Alchemist worked on his other cybernetic monkeys, trying to finish them before it was too late.

The young boy, he noted, was an odd one. Jet black hair, sapphire blue eyes, and a winning smile. A few months ago, the Alchemist had adopted him when he realized his friend and brother, the good Captain Shuggazoom aka Clayton Carrington, did not return from his last mission of defending the planet from an escaped Dark One. The boy had no mother, having been born as more a clone of Clayton than anything.

How, one might wonder? Well, it was because the boy was 'created' on Coranadol, the jewel world of the Veran Mystics. It was because of Clayton and the Alchemist's visit to the jewel planet to seek out power and wisdom to create a force for good that Clayton had touched the orb of pure energy and the infant had emerged in his image.

Among with being born of the Power Primate, the child had also inherited some of Clayton's own powers, or at least a version of them. Electrical in nature, and sometimes caused quite a lot of trouble when he had a tantrum. The boy also had the ability to speak to the monkeys, whom not even the Alchemist could speak the tongue of.

The Alchemist was delighted to have this ability so close at hand to him, and he had begun to study it, careful not to harm the child, and had taken some of his DNA and added it to his six monkeys. Only two took the most change, adapting the DNA into their own and making them strong in the abilities of the Power Primate. The ones he called Mandarin and Antauri. Mandarin was his first creation, a monkey of orange, while Antauri was one of black. Both intelligent. Both powerful.

Antauri had taken to the boy, always playing with him. As had the yellow simian, the only female to survive the original picking of his team that had not died from the implants, Nova. The two of them treated the young child as if he were their own, not that either of them showed any romantic interest in each other. Even Mandarin cared for the boy, often allowing him to play and mess with his gadgets. In fact, if the Alchemist went too far in his studies, those three would always be the quickest to protest with the other three not far behind.

Right now, though, the younger simians were asleep, and Mandarin was the only one awake, taking a few pieces from the scrap pile and disappearing to his own little area where he was working on his own project. He was trying to build another female monkey to give Nova a female friend. He had saved this female from being put down after the implants had gone wrong. He knew she had potential, as she was Nova's prototype, and she was still alive, but very ill.

CG-5, or Cogs, as young Chiro had named her, was more cybernetic than monkey. She was a violet chrome color with lilac fur. Her limbs were made of robotics, as they had been diseased and it was his way of trying to salvage what she had left.

The young monkey fidgeted and fussed, the robotic limbs flailing uncontrollably as she still could not get to grips with them. Dark eyes peered up at the orange mirror image of herself. Her movements for now, in any matter, were a little lethargic, not unusual for one of her age.

Mandarin fussed over her. Unlike the others, she had not been fully aged and was still quite young in both mental and physical traits. It was one reason why her implants had failed. It was because of her that the aging process was done to full maturity.

He chattered happily to her, and then glanced back as Chiro came waddling in, calling for CG-5 happily.

"Cogs! Cogs!" the toddler giggled, happy to see her.

One of her arms flopped about, trying to gain control of the weird thing. "Iwo?" Cogs tried to lift her head up to see who had arrived. "Dawin?" She chattered and kicked out with her legs somehow managing to push herself up at an angle. "Iwo, here?"

Mandarin nodded, pleased to see her standing. "Chiro is here, yes." He pointed at the boy who waddled over with a stuffed monkey toy in his arms. "How he managed to escape the watchful eyes of our brothers and sister is beyond me. Perhaps they are resting. Father has given them new implants. It is a very tiring process."

"Nap'ap?" She tilted her head and yawned a bit. "Iwo, p'ay?" Watching her hairless friend approach, she made to try get up, but ended up flopping onto her little face. Her little stub of a tail twitched about as she began to fuss again, upset about trying to get to her friend had ended up with her toppling over.

Chrio giggled and fell beside her, grinning.

Mandarin smiled, watching the two. "Behave, you two. I will go find you some more parts, Cogs." He had to reconstruct that tail. No wonder she wasn't balancing well. He left the room and went into the main one, surprised to see his master working on the portal to the Netherworld again after its failure a few months prior.

Chiro gabbered to Cogs and look at her happily before beginning to cry at a sudden negative energy filling the air as the portal he could not see was turned on.

Chattering back to her bald-furred buddy, she rolled over, confused at the sudden change in him. Why was he crying? Had she upset him?

Green energy surrounded him, as if protecting him against the negative energy, some of it flowing into her as well.

She cried out, what was going on here? That weird stuff tickled, it felt strange very weird. "I-Iwo?"

He shook his head frantically, frightened. There was a shout from outside the room, followed by the screeching of Mandarin, and negative forces were forced into the world as the portal was breeched. The youngling screamed and collapsed at the energy.

What was going on? She didn't like this one bit, not at all! Where was Mandarin? Why hadn't he come back? In the end, she curled up next to the boy, huddled up, terrified and confused, not understand what was going on.

Silence fell around the large compound for a long time before Mandarin finally returned, red rings around his pupils as he looked at the two with an odd expression. Something was wrong with him. He felt different. Very different. As if he was changing. Like his master had before him months prior, Mandarin, too, had been grabbed by one of the creatures beyond the portal, but for a much briefer time than the Alchemist had.

He looked at the pieces he had gotten from the scrap heap upon his return after waking from his sudden slumber and approached the lilac monkey. "I... will repair your tail. I must... finish you. Something is changing. Father is finishing the others..." He looked at Chiro and let out a pained screech as he was blinded by the green positive energy. "Get out!" he screamed at him, and Chiro, having woken up just before Mandarin's return, ran on four limbs out of the room, as if he had been spending too much time with the monkeys.

Finding her former source of comfort gone, the littler monkey lifted her head, nose twitching. At the sight of Mandarin, she shuffled and crawled forwards towards him. Maybe he could protect her from what had been so scary.

Mandarin glared at her. "Do not touch me, you limbless freak!" he snapped, finding himself shockingly angry.

At the harsh tone, she stopped in her tracks. Why was he angry with her? Why did he seem different? Had she upset him? "D-D-Dawin?" Trying her hardest to gain control of her mechanical limbs she reached forwards with one.

He smacked her paw away from him. "Sit still so that I can finish you already. It's taking too damn long as it is," he growled bitterly.

It hadn't hurt her, him doing that but it still upset her. "Cog'ad?" She chose to curl back up, pulling her limbs around her as best she could. How she was conveniently made her easy to pick up all tucked up in a ball, hiding her head in her arms sniffling. "Cog'ad... Dawin cross."

He scowled. "Just shut up." He began to work into the long hours, spending days with her with little rest to get her finished. Something was driving him to do so. He had to get it done. Get her finished so he could work on his next project, the one he shared with the Alchemist. Another portal, but this time one into the future. They had to send Chiro away. Things had become too dangerous for him. They would come to their senses to find the boy with bruises on him from their rough handlings of him. If he stayed, there was a chance he'd die before they found a cure for their illness.

Finally, months later, Cogs was finished and Mandarin looked at her wearily. "I have to shut you down. Send you with him. You will be his protector. Companion. Guardian."

Cogs didn't understand what he meant by shutting down, but she did, however, understand that he was sending her away. She clung to him, shaking her head. "Don't go away. Stay here! Why you sending away?" Since being properly connected to her own computer, her vocabulary had improved somewhat, thanks to the programs pre-installed. "I don't want to go."

"Because he is in danger... from myself and Father. We are sick. No, there's nothing you can do. You have to be there for him. Protect him as he grows," Mandarin explained.

Her metal tail curled and uncurled, wrapping around one of his limbs. "But... Don't want to leave you..." Leave him? The one who had made her better?! Who was now sick instead?

"You have to," he argued with a sigh. "Chiro needs you more. Where we're sending him... I do not know what the future holds, but I know that he will need protection. You know of his abilities. His natural power. He must somehow learn to control that power, and the future holds the key. You must go, Cogs, or else he will be harmed."

She looked down and put her paws around his still slightly bigger than her body. "Wish could come... maybe the future has medicine to make better." Somehow she knew he wouldn't let her get the better of him, arguing about this, but at least she maybe got to hug him. "Not now?" Cogs looked up at him, she didn't have to go right now did she? What would the future be like? Would she ever see him again?

He smiled and hugged her, opening his receptors on the sides of his head and sending out the signal unique to her to put her into a dormant state. "Now. Take care, Cogs," he whispered as she drifted off.

Within a few moments she was motionless; green eyes dimmed and dark, her arms sliding down from where they'd been around his waist; her silently slumbering self was supported only by him, head resting on his shoulder. She'd felt so sleepy, oh so sleepy within a few seconds, everything just slipping down and away into nothingness.

Mandarin sighed softly and picked her up, carrying her over to the second pod, sealing her inside. He looked up at the Alchemist, who had just sealed the almost two-year-old Chiro away in his own pod, with sad eyes.

"Fret not. You will see them soon, Mandarin. Now go join your siblings for your reset process. We must send these two on their way." The Alchemist started up the portal and pressed a button, the containers starting to move into the machine. A twitching began, and he felt himself beginning to slip. Claws took the place of his normal fingers, and his voice began to shift. This power... He couldn't let that power go! He made a grab for Chiro's pod, but Mandarin grabbed him, holding him back, fighting against his own demons.

"Release me!" the Alchemist shouted, making another grab before the containers disappeared. He pushed Mandarin off of him and grabbed the control panel, trying to stop it, and the ensuing fight ended with an explosion of the portal, blowing both of them back...

In the distant future, nearly a hundred and fifty years, a woman walking through the Zone of Wasted Years discovered the wailing babe with his name on a medallion around his neck. She smiled down at the small child and picked him up, not even noticing the other pod.

As the years went on, Chiro grew in the city orphanage as a reject. All potential adopters either looked him over or ended up returning him like a product to a store, stating that he was defective. Too many times had his electrical abilities caused trouble, shorting out circuits or damaging vehicles.

Being ridiculed for so long for his freakish abilities had caused him to turn them in on himself. He learned a temperate control over them, but sometimes even that wasn't enough. Finally, at the age of thirteen, Chiro ran away from the orphanage and decided to set up a new life for himself outside of the city.

A new life did find him when he stumbled upon an abandoned giant robot and ventured inside. Within, he flipped a switch he believed would give enough power to the machine so he could see, but instead it did so much more. His hands glowed green, unbeknownst to him, and flowed into the tubes of five cybernetic warrior monkeys, awakening them from their very long slumber.

Chiro had felt no fear of them, sensing something familiar about them, comforting, but their presence did startle him at first, especially when they began talking and he could understand them. To his surprise, he was made leader of a team called the Super Robot Monkey Team Hyperforce, and within days training began.

As the months waned on, battles were fought, most won, and all was quiet for a while until Skeleton King began a new plan. Digging a pit... and in that pit, to the King's surprise, a pod with a monkey inside was found. A monkey that had awoken when a signal to shut down the other Monkeys by Mandarin was sent out... and freed her.

* * *

 **Hi! Thanks for reading the first part of my first SRMT story! I originally wrote this seven years ago and decided to rewrite it since I had never published it. So many things changed and my ideas grew. I hope you've enjoyed reading! Please leave a review!**

 **I'm planning on Saturday weekly uploads. :)**


	2. Part One - Normality

**Hi, there! I've brought in a new chapter! Thanks to those who favorited and the one person who reviewed. I hope that you enjoy this next chapter! :)**

* * *

 **.~*Part One – Normality*~.**

Peace and silence was all that could describe Shuggazoom City, the only city on the large pink planet that from space looked like a strawberry ice cream scoop with white marshmallows. Just a few months ago, the planet of Shuggazoom was a peaceful world, but then in a flash of green light, everything changed. For the worst or the better depended on who was asked.

Some citizens were pleased with the return of the Monkey Team, the fabled protectors of the planet that had slipped into legend over a century ago when they had vanished after defeating the mighty Skeleton King. Others were angry, as with the return of the Monkey Team, the Skeleton King had returned from his dormant state, not defeated as the legends had told.

All could agree, however, that the constant monster attacks and Formless invasions was getting rather tiresome. While the battles between the Monkey Team's Super Robot and the monsters were epic, they were also extremely messy and damaging, and most of all – deadly.

While the people of Shuggazoom were grateful to the Team for their heroic efforts, hatred bubbled under the surface. So sick of being constantly attacked, homes destroyed, and lives lost. Almost every fight there was one death. It had become almost a sick, twisted game to some, placing bets on who would be next to die.

Lately, however, things had been quiet. Too quiet. Trouble was brewing, but those who could stand the paranoia went about their daily lives. Children went to school, adults to work, and teenagers playing hooky smoking in the park.

Since it had been so calm, Chiro, the boy who had awakened the legendary team, had decided to go back to school, and had actually enjoyed it. Most didn't know his identity as leader of the Monkey Team, and he was grateful for the lack of constant stares and whispers. At least about the whole Chiro-lives-with-monkey stares. He hated those.

Sometimes it was nice, in his opinion, to just hang out in the city, free of worry and not having to deal with any problems on the Super Robot. Especially today. Otto had blown up Gibson's lab while Sprx and Nova had gotten into a fistfight after Sprx had dyed Nova's fur a bright neon orange, and Chiro had happily let Antauri sort it out while he slipped out of the giant robot, his home, to go back to school.

Oh, yes, he had been given quite a scolding from the principal about not attending, but he had kept up in his classes thanks to Gibson and Antauri, so he hadn't gotten into too much trouble, thankfully. He had been able to make it to second period, not that his teacher even noticed his return to the class. The other students had noticed, though, and whispers spread up.

Listening to them, he was amused at some of the ideas of why he had been gone. Sickness, an adoption fallen through at the orphanage yet again, bullying, to ideas that maybe he was that human with the monkeys.

He silently laughed before turning his attention to the subject at hand, a lesson of history. It was so good to slip into the old routine and not have to worry about being attacked. He had even left his transformer in his locker, turned off, just so he could get through the day without having to worry about it going off and getting him into trouble. Last thing he needed was it being taken away.

Just one day. One day! He wanted to have a normal life. Free from fighting, free from monkeys, free from abnormality and this power in him, the thing Antauri called the Power Primate. He was used to the electrical abilities – those stupid abilities that had deemed him an outcast because of the weird things that happened around him – but this Power Primate thing?

As the class finished, Chiro went onto his next class, and spent the rest of the day going to each of his classes, almost forgetting about the Monkey Team who must've been panicking about his lack of response. It wasn't until the last class that he glanced out the window and saw the smoke. The city was under attack! At least, that was the first thing that popped into his head. Then he saw the firetruck and realized it was a simple fire. Nothing that the Team would be interested in.

Leaving the school, he didn't even realize that he was missing something from his locker as he wandered about the city, exploring like he used to. He found himself walking in the direction of the orphanage and decided to wander in and pay a visit.

Bad idea. No sooner had the headmistress seen him then he was grabbed and held by an older helper who had been upset about his disappearance months ago. He had forgotten that he had never returned to the orphanage after running away before finding the team. He had slipped out in the middle of the night, happy to be out of the place where he knew he'd never find a family. It was no wonder he was now taken under custody and returned to his old room, where he was asked questions by his old roommate, Jeff, who had then informed him that he was being adopted and soon Chiro would have the whole room to himself.

At dinner, Chiro found himself wondering if he shouldn't return to the Super Robot and the Team. A selfish part of him did not want to, having wanted to stay out and live his own life while he could. Besides, they obviously didn't even notice his absence, as they weren't scouring the city for him with their jetpacks. He hadn't heard anything about the Team being spotted, so obviously not.

That night, as he laid in the bottom bunk of his bed, he found himself a bit conflicted. He missed his own room on the Super Robot with his action figures, posters, and personalization. Not to mention the Team. Antauri. Nova. Sprx-77. Gibson. Nova. His monkey family.

As he lay on his side, thinking, he realized that even with them, he didn't have a true family. Not a normal family. A human family. They were monkeys, animals, and he was man. Well, boy. Shouldn't he be living with people? But the complications from having a human family and working with the Team... It'd never work. His human family would be constantly afraid of him being hurt and might even forbid him from leaving, whereas the Monkeys always knew he was up for a fight and let him battle, even if he got hurt.

Now that he thought about it, that wasn't a family. That was just a battle team. Ready to have your back as long as you fought. There were good times, bad times, fun and laughter, and tears and fights. Chiro knew that wasn't a family – all the ones he heard about were nothing like that. He still didn't have a family and most likely never would. A family didn't go into battle all the time. A family stayed in the background, keeping each other safe.

Sighing, he turned over. Why were all these doubts coming from, anyway? Sure, he had thought about them before, but not for a long time. Usually he was too tired at night to think, but lately with the lack of battles, his mind had begun drifting.

Staring out the window, his thoughts drifted once more to the Team and their own quirks. Antauri's confusing wisdom, listening ear, and good nature. Nova's temper, rare gentleness, and her way of keeping the others in line. Otto's constant smile, crazy inventions, and goofy personality. Gibson's constant nagging about studies, his smarts, and his accent. Sprx-77's competing gaming skills, sarcastic persona, and his daring tricks.

While they saw each other as siblings of sorts, Chiro was still left out. No mother, no father. To an outsider, they'd only be his pets or his guardians. Not his family. He was still Chiro the Orphan Without a Past. The Unknown Orphan. The Freak. Not even the Monkeys could change that. Not that they could, anyway, as he was the only one who could understand them. No one else spoke monkey. It was sad. He couldn't even take them out in public or be seen with them unless he was in his Hyperform.

He couldn't just take them out to get ice cream or to the arcade. Not to the park nor the observatory. When he was in public in his "normal" form, he was alone. Always alone. Antauri had said it was to protect his identity so he could still go out into the world and be safe from Skeleton King. Little did the black monkey know how lonely the boy was because of this.

Chiro had no friends. Never had. He was too much of a freak, and it all stemmed from odd things happening around him depending on his emotions. Electric lights exploding when he was angry. Strange green auras. Animals following him around. He had been deemed the orphanage freak, and any parent potentials who came to see him were always turned off by his... issues. The ones that did give him a chance usually returned and 'refunded' him, like he was some mere defected product from a store.

It wasn't until he met the Monkey Team did he learn he had the Power Primate, apparently having gotten it from the Super Robot, which made no sense to him at all as the issues had been going on since he was very small. Not that he told them that.

He learned to harness those abilities, turning the electrical problems into two attacks that he called _Thunder_ _Punch_ , _Lightning_ _Kick_ , and _Chiro Spearo_. It was thanks to the Team that he had been able to focus the abilities into such attacks, even though there were times where the issues still arose, though he did his best to not let the Team know. What if they thought he was a freak, too?

"Chiro! Go the hell to sleep already! Stop muttering to yourself, ya freak!" Jeff growled, throwing a shoe at the other teen.

Chiro shook his head and turned over, flinching at the pain of the shoe hitting his head. "Sorry," he apologized, having not realized he was even muttering, and closed his eyes, finally allowing himself to go to sleep, unaware of the watchful eyes in the window.

The next day, the ebony-haired teen got up and cleaned in the shower and set out for another day at school, glancing up at the skies every so often to see if he could spot the Team searching for him. Once again, he could not. Figured. He was probably not even missed.

It was lunchtime when Chiro noticed something amiss. Over half the student body was missing. He did not have time to even think about it when he heard the alarm going off and the principal's voice over the loudspeaker stating that the city was under attack and that all students were to go to the designated safe zone. To take the stairs.

Chiro knew he had to get to his locker and his badge that he was sure was in there as he had noticed it missing from his bag the night before, but he was swept up in the crowd going to the elevator and stairs. Funny, Chiro had thought there were only stairs, but supposed the school had added in an elevator to deal with the emergencies lately.

He tried to get through the panicking crowd to his lockers but was blocked by a teacher who was ordering him to safety. Chiro tried to fight back but was grabbed by a security guard, telling him it was for his own good. That nothing down the hallway was worth his life.

Chiro knew he couldn't argue back without revealing his secret identity, and he didn't dare. School was the one place where he had a sense of his old life, and he didn't want to give that up. Reluctantly, he walked with the rest of the panicking students, forcing himself to calm down before he had an explosion.

Wait, that was it! If he could make a distraction, he could get away and get to the team! Focusing his energy, he looked up at the lights in the hallway and watched as they exploded one by one, plunging everything into darkness. In the ensuing screams and confusion, he slipped out of the security guard's arms and made a break for it.

Finally reaching his locker, he undid the lock and felt around, trying to find the transforming device in the dark. He wished he had night vision or at least a flashlight. He let out an angry cry when he couldn't find it. Had someone taken it? He had noticed that his locker had been unlocked the day before when he gathered his things... had he simply forgotten to lock it? Or had someone broken in?

"Antauri's going to kill me," he muttered, realizing he was powerless. Without his Hyperform, he couldn't fight. He was useless. Might as well take shelter with the others.

He let out a yelp as the building shook and fell backwards as the second floor began to collapse. He jumped back in time to not get crushed and looked around, startled to find Formless storming in. Fear gripped him as he looked at them. He couldn't fight! He couldn't even gather energy to make another electrical burst!

Seeing that the stairs were clogged with debris, he made a running leap into the elevator that was somehow still working with the last group of students that hadn't gotten caught in the destruction, and breathed a sigh of relief and regret. Life had been lost and he'd been hopeless to help any of them.

"Hey, where are the buttons?" BT asked, and Chiro glanced over at the walls, surprised to find the tall skinny bully correct – the elevator was missing a very important component.

The doors opened, but they weren't anywhere that Chiro knew. They were surrounded by bone and the scent of gas and death. Ooze, too. Stepping out with the frightened crowd, he was wary and afraid. But then he spotted something that cheered him up. Sticking out of Glenn's back pocket was his transformer.

Grinning, he reached for it, pulling it out and making to turn back to the elevator to transform, only to find it gone. What? How could that be?

"Ah, look at this group. I sense the Power Primate among them! The boy is here!"

Chiro's skin crawled at the voice. It couldn't be... Slowly, he turned and spotted something he had missed when he first entered. Sitting atop a throne of bone was his enemy, the Skeleton King.

"Yes, My Lord. I sense it, too!"

Oh, geez. Mandarin, too? What was he doing here?! Chiro didn't waste any time. He knew that Mandarin knew what he was in normal form, so he had to transform. Placing the device on his sweater-vest chest, he focused and called upon the Power Primate, marking his transformation into Hyperform. His clothes changed to white, an orange scarf appeared around his neck, and a mask upon his face, protecting his identity.

He stepped forward, a lightning bolt ready to go. "Skeleton King! Release these people!"

"Chiro, the hairless monkey," Mandarin mocked as he hovered forward, bandages hovering around him. He took notice at the surprised and questioning voices of the group. "Ah, your peers do not have a clue as to who you are, boy! Perhaps so you can live a normal life, Chiro, eh?" He laughed. "My Lord, we have found our guest. Shall I escort him to the dungeon?"

Chiro frowned and threw the bolt at the monkey, groaning when Mandarin blocked it with his shield. He jumped and spun. " _Lightning Kick_!" he called, and Mandarin just laughed as he blocked it again.

"I'm afraid you'll find your powers are weak here, boy. Too much negative energy around us. You feel it, do you not? It draining you? Making you sicker with each passing minute. Go ahead, expend your energy. It will be that much easier to capture you," the orange monkey mocked.

Chiro growled and attacked again, this time with his _Thunder Punch_. His energy was starting to fade, and distress began to take its place. But these people, his fellow students, he had to protect them! No matter the cost! No more lives lost!

"Stop toying with the boy and retrieve the bait!" Skeleton King ordered, speaking up at last.

Mandarin nodded and launched his attack, taking Chiro down easily as he ripped the transformer from his chest, grinning as the boy returned back to his civilian clothing, much to the shock of the other students. "Elevator Monster! Return!"

The creature did so, opening his doors and looking down with a leering smile.

"Take this group back, and then lay the trap." Mandarin threw him the transformer and then used a Power Primate move to send all the people sans Chiro back into the elevator that quickly disappeared.

"Trap?" Chiro was confused. Hadn't they already captured him? Unless... They were after the Monkeys, too! "They're too smart for you! They won't fall for your trap!"

"Ah, but they will search for you." Mandarin grinned.

Skeleton King gave a nod. "Yes. And they will not find you, nor see you ever again. You belong to me now, boy."

Chiro glared at him, standing up with the help of his Formless bodyguards. "They don't care! They haven't looked for me in two days!" he spat. "They won't fall for your trap!"

"Not in two days, hm?" Mandarin looked thoughtful. "Interesting. I see they grow tired of you, boy. I thought this might happen. After all, you ran away from them and they saw no reason to go after you. Pitiful. Guards, take him to the dungeon!"

Chiro's gaze lowered as he was dragged away. It was true. He hadn't heard from the team at all. Did they really not care? Trying to conserve his energy, he waited until he was chained in the dungeon to meditate and make the call. He had to warn them!

Closing his eyes, he focused on the Power Primate, summoning his energy to give the Team a warning.

 _Monkey Team... Hear me..._

He lost consciousness as his body succumbed to the negative energy in the air and bone, unable to finish his sentence.

* * *

 **Hi! Thanks for reading my first SRMT story! I originally wrote this seven years ago and decided to rewrite it since I had never published it. So many things changed and my ideas grew. I hope you've enjoyed reading! Please leave a review!**

 **I'm planning on Saturday weekly uploads. :)**


	3. Part Two - Abnormality

**Hi, there! I've brought in a new chapter! Thanks to those who favorited and the two people who reviewed. I hope that you enjoy this next chapter! :) This is by far the longest chapter in the story, and in it we bring in the Monkeys at last! :3**

* * *

 **.~*Part Two – Abnormality*~.**

 _The Day Before..._

Antauri frowned that morning when he woke from meditation to hear loud arguments going on. Leaving his room, he ventured to the main room of the Super Robot and found Sprx and Nova getting into a fight, along with Gibson yelling at Otto, while Chiro looked on with a worried and upset expression.

Antauri approached the boy, realized he was upset because the team was fighting a bit worse than normal. Most of the reasoning behind this was boredom. Antauri had put the team on relaxation mode after the recovery from Mandarin's return to Shuggazoom from the Hostile Outlaw Observation Prison. Perhaps that had not been the best idea. Everyone was full of energy and nowhere to spend it.

The boy, especially. He usually found Chiro wandering the Super Robot around this time, trying to learn all he could about its secrets. Today, it seemed, Chiro was not interested in such things. Antauri could sense the anxiousness of the boy and sighed. Chiro had only been with them a few months, less than three, and was still getting used to them. The Team knew little about the teen's past or why the fighting amongst themselves made him nervous, but Antauri chalked it up to him still being unused to them.

Perhaps he should work with the teen one on one? Teach him more. Like the others, Antauri had given Chiro time off from training as well, not wanting to overwhelm him. For some reason, Antauri had noticed this had set the boy on edge as well. Why?

Placing a robotic paw on the teen, he mustered up a smile. "Go on and explore the city, Chiro. I can handle this. It is my fault after all. I should have been having the team train instead of relaxing. I should have foreseen this outcome. We'll be fine. Why do you not go out and do, uh, human things?"

Chiro shot him a grateful look and nodded, his eyes lighting up a bit.

The black monkey smiled truly, pleased to see him cheering up. "Perhaps bring us back some ice cream, too?"

The teenager nodded and took off, making sure he had his communicator.

Antauri watched him leave on the monitor until he could not see him any longer before turning to his team. "ENOUGH!" he shouted, pleased to see them all jump and come to attention. "Good. Now then, tell me what has happened."

Sprx-77, the red monkey with a magnetic personality, huffed. "She's mad that I dyed her fur pink on accident!" he explained. "She's trying to kill me, Antauri!" He ducked another possible blow from the yellow-pink simian.

Antauri sighed, wondering if maybe he shouldn't have just gone with Chiro and left things to work out on their own. "Nova, I am sure he did not mean to dye your fur. Did you, Sprx?"

"Of course... not," he attempted, only to yelp when he hit the wall.

"Accident? How is dying my fur an accident?!" the hot-tempered sunflower of the team growled, whipping her tail around, aiming for one of his legs to trip him up as she charged forwards. "Look at me! I don't even look pink!" Where the dye was, it had not gone a bright pink but instead a neon orange thanks to her lemony color pelt. "I look like... like..." She snarled angrily and punched her knucklehead of a brother into the wall while he had been speaking.

Antauri sighed yet again. Seemed to be doing that a lot this morning, actually. He could see why Nova was so angry. She looked like a female Mandarin except for her helmet, which remained her normal yellow color. "Nova, enough. Clearly he did not think things through, so we must not punish him for this. Gibson can concoct a recipe to change you back, can you not, Gibson?"

"Not now thanks to this pain in the butt!" Gibson growled, glaring at his mechanic counterpart. "He blew up my lab with one of his stupid inventions yet again!"

Meanwhile, Otto looked a bit bashful rubbing his head, his auditory receptors taking a thrashing from his azure sibling.

Antauri blinked and looked towards the smoking husk of the laboratory. "How about instead of arguing, you get that mess cleaned up? I'm sure it was an accident, right, Otto?" He looked towards the youngest monkey on the team.

"Eheh, I was only trying to help. May have knocked over a couple of beakers trying to add in a new shelving unit and upgrading the programs." His cheeks were bright and he scratched the back of his head sheepishly.

"You completely destroyed it! Those chemicals you knocked into each other could have blown up the Super Robot, you colossal screw up!"

"Gibson!" Antauri spoke sharply. "That is enough! No more fighting! All of you! You will all clean up the lab together and then we are going in for heavy training!"

Groans were heard all around at that announcement.

It would be hours until after they finished their tasks and the others finally realized that Chiro was not among them.

"Antauri, where's the Kid?" Sprx asked, glancing at the black simian. "He's never stayed out this late before. I thought you said he was bringing ice cream! Still not fair he got out of training."

"Shut up, Sprx. He's still just a boy," Nova responded. "He needs time to relax, too."

Antauri frowned, looking at the monitors. It was true, the human had yet to return that night and it was nearing midnight. "I will locate him. The rest of you go and recharge, please. It has been a hard day and should anything happen we all need to be ready and awake."

While the others left, Antauri noticed that Nova had stayed behind. "Yes?"

She was still slightly angered about the 'accident' of earlier, but had chosen to stay because of her worry for the teen. "I swear I will crosswire his circuits next time," she muttered. She then turned to her big brother with a frown. "Do you think Chiro hasn't come back because of us?"

"Remember this is still all new to him, and the way you all were acting earlier was more like animals than, well, yourselves. He is still a child, and I believe that you behaving like monkeys had him on edge. He was... relieved to be getting out for the day. So perhaps you are correct." Antauri frowned. "Would you like to join me in a search for him? Just to see where he might be?"

"Two heads are better than one, why not split the city in half? Or stick together on this one?" She tilted her head.

"I'd agree to that, but I've discovered that his communicator is turned off so you cannot use that for tracking. I may be able to find him through the Power Primate, which is why I would like you to come when I begin the search. I'll be, as you might say, out of it." He smiled at her, amused.

"So, you just need me for a piggyback, huh?" She teased. "Were you able to find where his communicator was last before switched off?"

Ignoring the 'piggyback' comment, he spoke. "I believe he was heading towards the school. He had mentioned a few days ago that he wanted to return while the city was safe, so I believe that is where he went today. However, seeing the time, he wouldn't be there now..." He looked thoughtful as they went to their tubes down to the main exit of the robot and went outside into the park, looking around at the peaceful city.

Antauri crossed his legs and focused on the Power Primate, seeking Chiro out. While he could not pinpoint the location, he could sense the boy. "Nova, we must go north."

"Exactly north or..." She started up her jet pack. "Is he alright?" Beginning to hover off the ground she started to ascend the air.

"I sense conflict with him, but as there's been no alarms at the robot, I believe they are internal." He followed her with his own jetpack. "Mostly north we will go. I have a theory on where he is. The orphanage where he used to live." He glanced at her. "Did Gibson ever manage to get into their records to find out the boy's past?"

"As far as I'm aware, yes but either someone has erased them, or they never were recorded."

The black monkey frowned at that. It made little sense, and he could not just go and ask anyone as he could not speak human nor humans speak monkey. Why would Chiro return to that place? Had he not grown up being bullied from scenes Antauri himself had witnessed shortly after they first met? "Odd. Very odd. Come, let us go. If he is fine for the night, we will leave him be and return home. Perhaps this excursion is what the boy needs."

"I hope so," was her only answer as she flew on. Every so often, she scanned the city for signs of any impending trouble. It had been so quiet lately, but why?

Finally, after nearly ten minutes of flying, the two monkeys touched down outside the orphanage, at the window where they had seen Chiro when they had first met him after he had ran from the Super Robot after waking them up. He peered in through the window and spotted the boy fast asleep on his old bed.

"He... He's okay?" Peering through the window and zooming in, she could see he was peacefully sleeping. "Wonder why he came back here?"

"Perhaps for a visit and it got too late for him to leave. Then again, he is still in their custody. We can't just adopt him. The laws state that he has to be adopted by humans. We merely, well, took him. No, he ran away to us. We must figure something out without compromising his identity as our leader." He looked at the boy, watching his chest rise and fall as he slept without worry. "I have an idea, something that Otto or Sprx might have come up with... We could all pose as human. Adopt him under a false name."

"It's going to be weird him calling me mom... I'll assume you'd be the voice of dad?"

"Of course, but he most likely wouldn't call either of us mom or dad. It'd be a ruse just to make sure the orphanage cannot take custody of him again. I know the one thing he's wanted more than anything is a family. I will take on the responsibility of guardianship, Nova. Do not worry yourself over this." Antauri looked at her. "And he cannot have a human family. Not now, not ever. He'd never be allowed to lead us."

"They'd want him to find a job, or get married or something like that." She scoffed at the idea.

"He is only a teenager, and a young one at that, but yes. With his powers, he can never again have a normal life." Antauri sighed, looking in at the boy again. "Tomorrow. We will come in tomorrow. Pretend to be mute. We will simply write what we want. If we do not do this right we compromise his identity and he will never be safe again."

Nova nodded. "On one hand, it'd mean we could go out in public with him and visit the places he talks about, but on the other hand, he'd never be safe, as you say."

"Exactly. He'd lose his place in regular society. His anonymous status. You know as well as I that there are citizens who hate our return. The prices of our battles with Skeleton King, the loss of life every battle..." He mused a little.

"It's his chance to get away from it all and go back to the life he had." She shook her head. "Let's head back, Antauri. He'll be fine for the night. We'll see him after school tomorrow. It's been peaceful lately." She flew into the sky.

Antauri followed her, knowing that it was just the calm before the storm. Skeleton King was planning something, that was for sure.

 _.~*~._

The next day, after Chiro had left for school, Antauri and Nova approached the orphanage, dressed in a large trench coat, a hat, gloves, and a mustache. Antauri was standing on top of Nova to give the appearance of being a tall human. Or at least average height.

Walking into the orphanage, Antauri frowned as he looked at how rundown the place was. Paint peeling on the walls, the scent of must and mold in the air, and none of the younger children looked happy.

"Yes, can I help you?" an older woman asked, stepping forward to greet them.

Antauri blinked and made a motion of writing.

"Ah, you are mute, perhaps? Very well, follow me into my office. I have a tablet and keyboard you can use."

Antauri nodded and let Nova walk on. They remained standing in the office, and Antauri began typing on the keyboard with a gloved paw.

 _I AM HERE TO ADOPT A BOY NAMED CHIRO_.

The lady, who had identified herself as Headmistress Rowling, looked at him in surprise as she read the words. "That freak? I thought no one would ever come back to take him from here. That's why I was glad when he just up and left a few months back. Strange things were always happening around him. He scared my other children here, not to mention what happened with one of the families that adopted him previously. Only one kid would put up with him, though I'm not sure why. He's supposed to be listed as unadoptable and shipped out on the _Drak_ , if it ever arrives. Been a couple years..."

Antauri's fur bristled at her cruel words. Here was someone who was supposed to be loving and caring towards children, and instead she was calling one a freak.

"Oh, don't get mad. If you're here for him, you must know about his abilities. When his emotions change, anything electric goes haywire around him. Lighting explodes and people get hurt. If he hadn't run away on his own a few months back, I would have left him on the streets." She looked at him. "How do you know him?"

Antauri began to type again, frustrated at her mood and wrapping his tail over Nova's mouth to silence her growls. _HE HAS BEEN LIVING WITH ME THESE PAST FEW MONTHS. I HAVE BEEN PATIENT AND HAVE BEEN TEACHING HIM HOW TO CONTROL THOSE ABILITIES._

"I see. Well, in that case, you can just take him. I want him gone. I was most upset when he returned last night, but I couldn't just let him roam anymore. It'd make me look bad. Let me get the paperwork for you." She got on her own computer and began working on files.

 _EXCUSE ME, BUT WHAT CAN YOU TELL ME ABOUT HIS PAST?_

"His past, huh? All I know is that he was brought to me after being found in the Zone of Wasted Years. Should have just left him there for all the trouble he's caused me."

Antauri knew that Nova was wondering the same question – why had Chiro been found in the Savage Lands? There were no humans living out there! _WHO FOUND HIM?_

"No one special, just one of my friends when she was out exploring. She passed away in her sleep last year, though, so I can't have you talk to her." She sighed and began printing papers.

The black monkey's frown deepened at that announcement. Their only chance on finding out the truth of the boy's origins was lost. He pulled the printed papers towards him, reading them through, surprised when he found a line that if he gave up on Chiro, he would be forbidden from returning the boy to the orphanage. It was good that Antauri had no plans in giving up the boy.

She looked over the papers as he signed them as Antauri Smith and giving the boy the name Chiro Smith. "Antauri? That's an odd name. You must not be from around here."

 _I DO NOT GET OUT MUCH_.

"Ah. Well, everything seems to be in order... but what about the adoption fee? I assume you will be paying for him."

Antauri blinked. Adoption fee? Did that mean he was _buying_ the boy?! What kind of sick, twisted notion was that?! _HOW MUCH?_

"Oh, just 6,500 credits," she explained.

The monkey frowned. That's how much they spent on purchasing parts for one of their rockets!

Seeing his hesitation, she quickly added, "But because he's such a troubled soul, I'll knock it down to 500 credits. We just want him gone."

Antauri nodded and made a digital transfer of the money to the orphanage.

She looked at her screen, seeing the money appear. "Right, then. Everything seems to be in order. I'll show you to his room and you can gather his belongings."

 _.~*~._

Nova and Antauri had just finished putting Chiro's old childhood items in his room to go through later that evening when he hopefully came back home to the Super Robot, when it came time to go out on patrol with the rest of the team.

"So, you adopted him, Antauri?" Gibson questioned as they flew above the city.

"Indeed. It was time to get the boy out and away from that orphanage. He is ours, now, and safe from those who care not for him." The black monkey smiled.

"About time," Otto cheered. Now his friend could stay with them forever and they could go on all sorts of adventures!

"Yeah, but Antauri... she said he had abilities, even before he met us. How is that possible?" Nova questioned.

"Huh?" The others glanced over at them.

"That is a question we must ask Chiro when he comes home later. I am curious about it as well." It was true. Chiro wasn't supposed to have any powers until he had awakened the team. How could he have been seen using electrical abilities before that time? Is that why he had been so nervous about training? About using any powers? Perhaps.

"Whoohoo! Time to kick some butt!" Sprx cheered, spotting a horde of Formless invaders and effectively ending the previous conversation.

"Shouldn't we wait for Chiro? Formless are easy to battle and you know how he likes it," Otto commented, glancing back at Antauri.

"No. He can train later. Let us take this time to let him have a nice, quiet day. We can handle this easily. Monkey Team! Take out the Formless without as few casualties as possible!" Antauri ordered.

The others nodded and split up, going after the hoards.

"Formless. They're so messy," Gibson stated as he drilled holes in several, satisfied when they exploded.

"Gotta love 'em!" Nova grinned, laying the pounding on and taking out as many as she possibly could with ease. She, Sprx, Otto, and Gibson were having a competition on who could take out the most of the easy-to-beat creatures. So far she was in the lead.

Even Antauri joined in on the competition, keeping himself serious but enjoying every second of taking the foul creatures down. It was easy, quick work. "More Formless on the roof!" he called, zipping up to the top.

The others followed, eager to battle some more. When they finally cleared up the roof top, they looked around, Gibson looking at his scanner, not seeing any others. "The city is clear!" he called, only to flinch at a distant explosion.

Antauri flinched a bit, feeling a sudden rush of energy filled with confusion and anxiety. Chiro. Something wasn't right. He didn't waste any time in taking off in the direction of the explosion. As he neared, he realized what was going on. More Formless had appeared somehow and the school had partially collapsed after being fired upon. At least, that's what it appeared to be. All those lives... "Monkey Team! Battle and salvage!" he ordered to his fellow simians who followed orders immediately, taking out the Formless.

Antauri was worried. He couldn't sense Chiro any longer. Where was he? He would have been at school! Had he been in the collapse? Had he escaped? Why hadn't he fought? He should have been here!

Nova shared her eldest brother's worry and looked over at him, searching the rubble for survivors.

As the hours waned on, at least fifty survivors were found in the rubble itself, but more than ten students had died, crushed by the concrete. Many more survivors were found when the Team breeched the bunker, finding over a hundred students huddled in terror. Cheers were shouted from the students as they were pulled to safety by the simians.

Children ran to find their families and when the last survivor was pulled free, the crowds began to disperse except for the families whose children would not be returning home to them ever again. Whose children's last moments were filled with panic and fear.

Antauri could feel the anger of the citizens, and as soon as all were freed and emergency personal took over, he ordered the Monkeys to leave.

Back at the Super Robot silence hung in the air as the team sat in their chairs in the main room, not looking at each other. They had failed today. So many lives were lost, far more than usual. All children with just a few adults. To top it off, Chiro had yet to be found. Had he run away or had something worse happened? If he had been at the school, why had he not helped?

"We should build a memorial or something for those kids," Otto commented softly, not looking up.

"That won't make the citizens who lost them forgive us, I'm afraid," Gibson remarked. "We should have... I should have known the Formless were there." He had trashed his scanner when he realized it hadn't picked up the other horde.

"It's not your fault, Gibson," Sprx responded. "It's not. Those Formless came out of nowhere."

The blue simian looked over at him oddly, surprised that he wasn't being cold. It almost cheered him up. "Those deaths are on me, though."

"No, Gibson. They are on all of us. It happened so suddenly. We should have split up instead of all attacking the same horde. We could have spared two of us to be on the lookout for other attackers. It was my poor decision to keep us together," Antauri spoke up.

"You're not to blame, either, Antauri!" Nova argued. "Chiro should have been there! Why didn't he help out? Where did he go? Did he run away?" She knew that there were times where Chiro froze up in battle, still nervous about the fighting. Had he gotten swept up into the chaos?

"What we need to do is find the Kid and ask him what the heck happened," Sprx growled. "If he froze up and ran off, I swear..."

Antauri sighed, nodding in agreement. Chiro needed to be found and questioned. "I am going to meditate. All of you find something to do. Occupy yourselves and banish these negative thoughts. Chiro will be found and questioned. Dismissed."

Each monkey nodded and went to their tubes, going up to their individual rooms to find something to do. Nova started up a workout, Otto began tinkering with his latest invention, Gibson went through his scientific research, while Sprx read a comic book while hanging from the ceiling.

Antauri, too, went to his room of Zen and moved onto his little island in the middle of a small holographic pond that Otto had constructed for him many, many, years ago. He closed his eyes and began his meditation exercises.

 _Monkey Team... Hear me..._

His eyes shot open and he fell out of his floating Lotus position in surprise at the unexpected cry for help. Chiro? Where was he? What was that? What was happening?

The same was heard, disturbing the monkeys from their respective activities.

One by one, they all left their rooms, looking at each other questioningly and then at Antauri, silently asking him what was going on.

Antauri looked at them all. "So it was Chiro. He is calling for us, but I cannot pinpoint his location. Gibson, scan for his transformer immediately!" he ordered as they all ran to their tubes to get to the main room.

"I'm already on it." The blue chief of science reported, going to retrieve his city scanner. "I hope he hasn't got himself into trouble."

"It's Chiro. He's always in some kind of trouble," Sprx commented wryly, earning a smack over the head from Nova.

Antauri rolled his eyes. "Sprx, enough."

"Speak for yourself." Nova glared at him, still fluffed up about the whole dying her fur fiasco.

"Hey, I said I was sorry!" the red monkey complained. "You're back to normal now, so shut up about it! I won't do it again, okay?!"

The black monkey groaned and moved closer to Gibson and Otto. "Find anything?"

They both looked oddly at the scanner. Well, Gibson did, at least. "I'm not quite sure, actually. I've found Chiro's signature, but..." He held out the device, showing a red dot erratically bouncing all over the screen.

"Maybe he decided to play ping pong with it." Otto tilted his head.

"No, you dumbbutt. Why would he do that?" Sprx asked, confused.

"It is perplexing, yes," Antauri mused. "Let's hit the city and try to locate him."

"Ooo oo, can I say it? Please?" the green mechanical mischief maker begged.

Antauri smiled. "You may."

"Monkeys Mobilize!" Otto cried, much to the amusement of the others.

As they left the robot they split up, keeping in contact with Gibson at all times, each trying to corner Chiro's signal.

Gibson had his eyes glued to the scanner, trying to figure out if there was a pattern or just random bouncing. He was perplexed by it all. What was Chiro trying to pull?

While they flew, Antauri kept trying to focus on the Power Primate. Where was the boy? And why was he not answering their calls? Finally, he heard Gibson state that the beacon had stopped moving at last.

Antauri pinpointed where Gibson was talking, but something was still off. He didn't detect Chiro at the location or anywhere else for that matter. Then again, as he looked around the city, he realized just how quiet it had become.

The others had noticed the silence, too, by the time they regrouped. "Did everyone disappear or something?" Otto inquired, hovering behind Gibson trying to look over his shoulder.

Gibson frowned. "This is odd, I'm not picking up anyone within the vicinity."

"It is getting late, so perhaps," Antauri responded, though he didn't sound too sure of himself. He touched down and began looking. "Gibson, where does the scanner pinpoint?"

"According to my readings, right here." He gestured forth as he, too, descended from the sky.

Antauri nodded and followed the blue simian around until they all paused in front of an elevator.

"Huh... apparently this is our destination, curious." Gibson studied the thing, perplexed.

"He's playing in an elevator?" Sprx asked, looking at him. "Well, humans are odd, I guess. Let's go!"

Nova looked for the call button. "That's kind of odd, even for Chiro, to do."

"Yeah, well, he's been bored, and he ran away from a fight and kids got killed. He's probably hiding from us."

"It's possible, but still odd. Uh... can anyone see the call button?"

"Must be one of those new fancy things with the camera to..." Sprx drifted off, realizing how stupid that sounded.

Antauri put a paw against the door, frowning at the negative energy he felt. "We need to get in there. Something is wrong."

"Well yours or mine, Sprx." Rubbing her hands together, Nova stood in front of the doors waiting to pound them.

"Why not both?" he asked, grinning, producing his magnets.

"Sounds good to me." She powered up her fists.

" _Double Monkey Attack_!" They cried simultaneously smashing the doors into oblivion.

Antauri stepped forward cautiously, feeling the radiating negative energy affecting him. He stumbled slightly, breathing heavily.

"Antauri?" Gibson asked concern on his face. "What's wrong?"

"I believe we have missed something grave. This energy reeks of negativity and Skeleton King. Chiro is in grave danger." He activated his ghost claws, but they faltered and faded away.

"Then let's go get him! Gibson, you might want to stay with Antauri..." Nova stated, looking over at the black monkey with a worried expression.

"No, we all must go," Antauri spoke up. "Chiro needs all of us."

"If you're sure, my friend," Gibson stated, walking forward with Nova and Sprx while Otto stayed behind to help Antauri.

"I'm sure. If we are battling Skeleton King, we all need to be there."

Gibson wasn't too sure about that, since his second-in-command was obviously in no shape, but he relented and looked around for the source of the signal.

Antauri walked with Otto and entered the elevator, Nova and Sprx having their weapons at the ready. As they all found themselves inside, the doors shut behind them and a small thing fell in the middle of the group.

Antauri bent down and picked up the communicator with fabric still attached to it.

"Is that what I think it is?" Otto peered over his brother's shoulder.

The black monkey nodded, fear filling him.

Nova shivered and looked around. "Where do you think he is, if he's not here...?" The elevator gave her the chills, and the fact Chiro was not here didn't help things. "I-I don't like this."

"Hey, this elevator has no buttons!" Sprx complained, finally looking at the wall.

"No buttons outside... no buttons inside? Okay this is definitely not your typical elevator. Whoever has us in here let us out! Or I'll smash us out!" the peppered up she-simian yelled.

The doors opened, revealing the sight of citizens in chains walking past, looking over at them with fear and some loathing.

Antauri frowned and stepped out with Otto, shocked at what he saw. He looked up and was surprised to see the high walls all around them, as if they were in a pit!

Formless turned to them and began their attack.

"Oh, no, you don't! _Boom Boom Wake Up_!" Nova leaped up and slammed her fists down on the ground sending a massive shockwave through the horde taking several out.

" _Whirling Destructo Saws_!" came the cry of Otto sending his lethal discs this way and that like two circular scythes.

Sprx also sent out a blast, as did Gibson, but Antauri groaned, holding his head while down on one knee. Something about this place... This negative energy! It was so strong! Far stronger than anything he had ever felt before! Normally, he could handle such things, but this... was it because Chiro was not near?

Noticing their second leader was down, Nova and Otto backed up around him, keeping the horde back with their long-range attacks.

" _Enough, Monkeys! Surrender, or the boy suffers!_ " the voice of Skeleton King spoke from the screen of TV Monster, a large round robot with arms and legs and a giant TV screen on the front.

"I was wondering when that thing would show up," Sprx muttered, charging up what would have been a magna ball blazer attack. "Where is Chiro you oversized fossil!?"

The skeleton on the screen cackled. " _I was hoping you might ask. You see, it's simple. I have taken back what belongs to me._ "

"Belongs to you? What are you talking about?" Sprx demanded, annoyed.

" _The boy, of course. I am his father, after all. I am merely returning him back to his family._ "

"He's not your family or your son, you sick freak!" Nova challenged immediately, fur bristling with anger. "Chiro is human and you are not!"

Skeleton King laughed. " _Oh, I was human once before, too, over a century ago. He is much older than you think. A child born of the Power Primate – the child of prophecy. A very rare gift indeed. Only one family in the universe has ever had this ability, though none were created of the power but the boy. And now I have found him again and laid claim to my kin._ "

Antauri stared hard at the machine before him, hatred in his usually calm eyes. How could this be? Over a century ago? Born of the Power Primate? No, Chiro had awakened the Power Primate when he had activated the Super Robot and Monkeys! No one was born with the Power Primate! Not even Antauri! He had gained his through many years of meditation! How? How could a human just be... born with it?

Skeleton King watched him. " _Jealous, hm? I can understand why. One born with such power. Labeled a freak for so long. No friends or family. None who wanted to get near to the freak. Why do you think I wish to punish these citizens of this pathetic city? Hurting my boy like they have._ "

"Where. Is. He." Nova ground out, how she wished to twirl and hurl that hefty hunk of junk floating before her. "You call him your son and yet threaten to hurt him. No father would ever cause their child harm!" All of her fur was on end and she had that look in her eye. Unless Antauri told her to calm down, she'd unleash all of the fury in her heart upon the monstrosity.

Her fellow simians expressions were a mix of horror, fury, and confusion. Otto was scratching his head confused. Sprx looked like he was about to fry his circuits with the look of anger on his face. Gibson had a mix of both. He had his eyes on Antauri. Why would he be jealous? Jealousy did not even exist in their second-in-command's vocabulary, figuratively speaking.

Antauri silently agreed that he may have been a bit jealous of the boy. For him to have been born of such a gift... Who or what was he? The child of prophecy? What prophecy? He had never heard of one! How could this have happened? Did that explain his other powers? Was he born with those, too, as Skeleton King suggested? If so, why had Chiro not mentioned it? Could that be why the boy was so unsure of himself?

" _I know far more secrets about him than even you, Antauri. Is that not pitiful? I know that even in your creation you were gifted the Power Primate... using the DNA of the boy as well. Do you understand now why you are so weak?_ " Skeleton King cackled.

Antauri groaned again, holding his head and trying to fight off the negative energy surrounding them. As he was more in tune to the Power Primate's positive energy, being around Negative Energy affected him more. And what was that about Chiro's DNA being inside him? How was that possible? They were created so long ago! Humans could not live for over a century!

There was a loud snarl that came from several of the team. "Don't listen to him, Antauri! One more word and I'll turn him into bonemeal." Sprx glared at the machine in anger.

" _Ah, but you hurt me, and I harm the boy. Simple as that. He is of the age where he can be molded, and his power has become strong since awakening you filthy primates! I do thank you, however, for teaching him how to control his abilities to an extent, but you have not done a good enough job. He is still having accidents, as you would say. That explosion in the school today was his own doing! So, I will be his teacher. I will tell him how you took him and have been keeping him away from his family._ "

Antauri's eyes widened. He knew what that meant. Skeleton King was going to turn Chiro against the Team! "No!"

The same word was echoed by the rest, along with shrieks of rage.

" _He will soon come to my way of thinking. I wonder... how would you be able to battle your own former leader, hm? You'd never be able to trust him again if he ever chose to come back. You'd always be unsure on whether or not he'd turn on you._ "

A dark shape appeared to shift, moving towards the skeletal nightmare on the screen and appeared to whisper in where his ear would have been. Green eyes glowed in the darkness before moving away out of sight.

"Chiro would never turn on us!" Nova yelled.

"He would never do such a foolish thing to listen to a windbag, oh, sorry, I meant living xylophone such as yourself!" Gibson shook his head defiantly.

" _He's already almost done so once_ ," a new voice spoke, one very familiar to the Monkeys. Mandarin took the screen grinning. " _He is easy to manipulate. With the right persuasion and some fear tactics, he will be ours._ "

Antauri let out a scream of rage at that one. All around them, the citizens of Shuggazoom looked at the monkeys in confusion and fear as they were led to their prison in the Pit.

"Oh great... so not only do we have bone brain to worry about, but Mandarin, too?! This is just great..." Sprx growled. Nova echoing said noise, absolutely furious.

Mandarin looked down at them. " _Now surrender and the process of change will be that much easier on the boy._ "

All eyes turned to Antauri, knowing his decision would be what they followed.

Antauri wanted to fight, but knew it would be foolish. It would be wiser to save their strength for rescuing the citizens trapped here and trying to come up with a strategy for rescuing Chiro. "Stand down, Monkey Team," he said finally, his voice weary and shaky.

At the word they did so, putting their various weapons away. Now what were they to do? They had to get Chiro out of here and the citizens before it was too late.

" _Wise decision, Antauri. Formless! Seize them and put them with the others!_ "

Antauri kept his head up in defiance as he and the others were led to the large prison and shackled in individual cells on different levels. He would not let the citizens of Shuggazoom nor Mandarin see him defeated. He was far too proud for that.

Gibson tried to follow Antauri's example, but after being shackled, he sighed, feeling hopeless.

Nova tried her hardest to hold back her temper, upset at this situation. "You wait... you just wait, you mangy furball..." She growled as she too was shackled and shoved into one of the many cells.

Otto looked very miserable as he was put inside another one. "Now what...?"

Sprx wanted to come up with some kind of retort, but as he looked out at the citizens who stared at them with such mixtures of emotions... he found he couldn't. These were people that they were sworn to protect, and now they were lost. They had failed.

Antauri did not speak. He crossed his legs and closed his eyes, determined to beat this negative energy and reach the boy. "Monkey Team, I am in need of your aid."

Nova, Otto and Sprx turned their heads, trying to spot the monkey they could not see because of the angle of the cells.

"Antauri?" Gibson questioned.

"We need to combine Power Primate energies. I know you all are not as tapped into it, and for that I'm grateful. You are not as affected by this Negative Energy as I am. I ask for your help."

Gibson nodded and closed his eyes, focusing his energy and sending it to Antauri.

The others did the same, sending what energy they could to their spiritual sibling focusing on giving all they could.

Antauri glowed a faint green, his connection not very strong, and began to call out to Chiro.

* * *

 **Hi! Thanks for reading my first SRMT story! I originally wrote this seven years ago and decided to rewrite it since I had never published it. So many things changed and my ideas grew. I hope you've enjoyed reading! Please leave a review!**

 **I'm planning on Saturday weekly uploads. :)**


	4. Part Three - Perspectives

**Hi, there! I've brought in a new chapter! Thanks to those who favorited and the two people who reviewed. I hope that you enjoy this next chapter! :) Sorry for the delayed upload. Yesterday was super busy. .;;**

* * *

 **.~*Part Three - Perspectives*~.**

Chiro groaned, wondering why his bed was so uncomfortable. It was as if he was sleeping on a rock! Opening his eyes, he blinked a few times, slowly realizing that he wasn't in his clean room with the large white walls, but in a room of living bone, the walls shifting before him.

Getting up, he was surprised at how shaky his arms were becoming. Trying to stand, he realized that he couldn't support himself. He felt weak and exhausted, though he had just woken from sleep. Sitting back down, he tried to examine the structure. Bone, bone, and more bone. He was on a bed of bone. It was fairly morbid, and he was starting to understand just where he was.

The Citadel of Bone. Skeleton King's fortress.

He had heard stories of the place on late night horror stories that he, Otto, Sprx, and Nova would talk about around a holographic fire trying to scare each other. Who would have thought he'd actually be here?

So, that hadn't been a nightmare from earlier. He had actually been captured by some kind of Elevator Monster and brought before the mighty evil one. Where was the Team? Were they okay? How long had he been gone? Were they even looking for him?

Hearing footsteps, he attempted to stand and defend himself, hand reaching for the transformer on his chest only to realize that it wasn't there. He couldn't use his powers. He was defenseless.

His stomach began to roll at the Negative Energy filling the air around him as the figure drew closer. He felt as if he were dying. That energy! It was making him sick to his stomach! He was going to... He looked down at the sick on the floor, embarrassed. If Sprx had seen him throw up, he would have laughed.

He felt so dizzy that he had to sit back down, head spinning. Hearing a voice, he looked up finally, movements slow and sluggish at the extreme Negative Energy surrounding him.

"I see you've woken up, Chiro," a voice spoke softly. "Having trouble adjusting, are we?" A nightmarish face appeared, followed by the rest of the form out of the shadows. Skeleton King smiled thinly at the boy. "You are having trouble, aren't you?" The sound of his staff tapping loudly echoed as he made the bone floor absorb the sick.

The teenager flinched at the voice, fear and dread filling him. "Skeleton King," he spat, too exhausted to be angry. He had never felt so afraid in his life. He'd always had the Team by his side! Now he was alone and did not know if he'd ever see his friends again. "What do you want with me?!"

"What do I want with you? My dear boy, I would have thought you'd remember me? It's been so long that I suppose you wouldn't. You were just a babe when I sent you into the future." The bony figure approached and knelt down beside the frightened child. "You used to call me Father at one time."

Chiro's heart felt like it stopped as the breath caught in his lungs at that announcement. Father? Skeleton King?! What! No, no, no, that was so wrong. "You're not my father! I do not have any parents! No family of any kind!" he argued. "Stop with your lies! You cannot be my father! You're evil and made of bone!"

"Why would I lie to you? Haven't you ever wondered how you came to be? How you arrived on Shuggazoom? No... you were so young back then, you wouldn't remember."

What was he talking about? Sure, Chiro had questions about his existence, but this couldn't possibly be the answer! "You're evil! You try to kill people! I'm not evil like you. I'm the leader of the Monkey Team!" He had to deny it. There was no way this made any sense. "You didn't send me into the future! That makes no sense! There's no such thing as a time machine!" The technology didn't exist, and even if it did, Antauri had told him that meddling with the past would have dire consequences.

"Ah, Chiro, you are so mistaken, child." Skeleton King knew that right now there was no way the boy would believe him, but at least he could plant the seeds of doubt. On one hand, he was telling the truth; just not all of it. He would not let Chiro know the full truth, just like with the Monkeys. As long as the boy and Monkeys believed that he was Chiro's father, the Monkeys would never trust the boy fully again. "I used to want to help people," he said softly. "I used to be known by another name, and I never used to be this bony." He smirked a bit.

"What are you talking about?" Chiro asked, confused. The Monkey Team had never mentioned Skeleton King being human or otherwise! "That doesn't make sense. Now all you do is hurt people! If that's true, what changed?"

The bone king smiled and got up, looking at his staff for a moment as he closed his eyes. He turned away from the boy a moment before looking back at him, a less bony, more human face gazing back at him for just a moment before being replaced the original face. "Situations changed, some for the worst, some for the better. The people of Shuggazoom City turned on me. They feared the power that I was born with. They feared the power used to protect them. You were born with that same power, so I sent you far away to keep you safe, knowing I would see you again. Well, hoping."

Skeleton King sighed. "We were so happy, you and I, my son, before they changed and turned against us. They killed your mother, Chiro. Even my brother fell because of them. Took everything from us. When I could no longer keep you safe, I sent you to the future, hoping that things would change."

Seeds of doubt began to sprout within the young boy's mind. Was it possible? "Yeah, but... No, this can't be right..." He frowned and wobbled a bit, still greatly affected by the energy. "How can you possibly be..." He stared at the quickly changed face, feeling as if he knew it from somewhere, perhaps a memory of a dream? Was it possible? Was Skeleton King his father? "Then why do we..." he faltered for a moment, both at a loss and weakened at a pulse, as if something or someone was trying to reach him. "Why do we fight each other?"

"After I sent you away, I began to change into a figure the people would fear. I chose to battle the people. They brought forth the Monkey Team to fight me. The poor Primates had no idea of the truth. They were told that I was evil, but, alas, instead they were serving the true evil. I pitied them at first until they awoke thanks to you. You ask what changed and I will tell you – they turned you against your own father. They made you an instrument of evil." Skeleton King started to walk away. "A familiar face will come in a while to check on you. In the meantime, cogitate on the true history."

The black-haired teen frowned, thinking on it. "I..." He watched as the taller enemy walked away, leaving the boy confused and conflicted about many, many things. He wished Antauri was here to help sort things out.

 _.~*~._

Skeleton King headed back to his throne room. Whilst he had no care for his former life as the Alchemist and certainly not Chiro's father, it still was useful in this case. How long before the boy doubted himself? An hour? Days? Weeks? It was just a matter of time...

"My Lord, I trust it went well? Those primates are under lock and key," Mandarin spoke, floating over to his lord and master. "They choose to save the boy rather than themselves."

"As expected. I've left him alone for now. I want him checked on in a while. That little primate of yours might have to use that little gift of hers as the Citadel's Negative Energy sickens him."

Mandarin nodded, knowing the full story of Chiro's past thanks to his lord. "He is born of the Power Primate, pure energy. We should have seen that that a palace of pure negativity would affect him in such a way. He needs to embrace it as I have or he shall not recover," the orange monkey spoke.

"That will take time, unless, perhaps, you feel your apprentice could teach him, as she, I believe, can tap into _that_ power?" He tilted his head. "Or perhaps you both teach him our ways?" Skeleton King asked silkily.

"You mean destroy him if he does not listen. Yes, I can do that. Cogs would be happy to help me. She can... clean him up afterwards, as here his Power Primate would not be able to heal him at all."

A slow smile slid over the lord's face and he chuckled, nodding.

Mandarin smiled as well. "As you wish, my lord. Tell me, however, how far is too far?"

"I would have thought you'd know, considering your past involvement with him." He grinned darkly. "Ensure he survives whatever means you use. Dead, he is no use to me. And, Mandarin, do not underestimate him again. I have planted the seeds of doubt; your job is to make sure they flourish."

"Understood, my Lord. He will be yours soon." Mandarin bowed and walked away, searching for his apprentice.

 _.~*~._

Back in his cell, Chiro pulled his legs up to his chest and rested his head on them, unsure of himself. He felt oh so very ill, and that darn pulsing! What was going on? Feeling sick again, he leaned forward and emptied whatever was left in his stomach from lunch at the cafeteria. A few tears rolled down his cheeks as he wished again for Antauri or any of the others. They would save him, right? Tell him that what Skeleton King said was a lie.

" _Chiro... Chiro, can you hear me?_ " a faint whisper tickled his ears.

The child jumped like he'd been kicked by a Formless at the sudden sound. That just made his stomach all the more worse and he heaved again. "W-Who's t-there?!" he called, looking around frantically.

" _Chiro, it is I, Antauri. Where are you?_ "

"An... Antauri?" Was it possible? "Antauri, I'm on the bone ship! The Citadel!" he cried, panic and sickness slipping into his voice.

Antauri's calm voice broke through to him, though it was a bit static-y. " _Calm down, Chiro. Can you move? Are you confined in any way?_ _Calm yourself and focus. Do not speak out loud. You are not in friendly space._ "

He let out a soft whimper and spoke through his thoughts. ' _I don't believe I'm tied up, but I'm trapped in this room. There's bars across the door and I can't break them. I can't use my powers, Antauri! They took my transformer! Set a trap for you!_ '

" _We are now aware of the trap, a bit too late, however. Just try and stay calm. As soon as we escape we are coming to find you. I promise, Chiro, we **will**_ _find you!_ "

Chiro gulped, feeling a sense of relief but also reprehension, the doubt slipping into his thoughts. ' _I... Antauri, is it..._ ' He frowned, wondering if he should even ask. ' _No, never mind._ ' Even if it was true, Chiro knew that Antauri would not tell him. He'd make something up or change the subject. Why would he want to tell Chiro that Skeleton King could be his father?

Antauri, as if sensing his uncertainty and distress, spoke up again. " _Is what, Chiro? What's wrong? Talk to me. What is troubling you?_ "

"If I ask, do you promise to tell me the truth?" Chiro asked aloud without realizing.

" _We are a team. We do not hold secrets from each other._ "

"Am I Skeleton King's son?" he asked bluntly and then flinched, as if expecting to be slapped for his insubordination though Antauri was not there with him, only a voice.

Chiro heard a soft gasp on the other end of the connection, followed by a deep sigh. " _I had feared he might tell you what he has told us. That question will be answered when we are able to determine the truth, but not right now. It is not as important as getting you out of there and free once more. I promise that the question will have an answer and explanation when we can explain it ourselves._ "

Chiro felt anger at the dodgy answer. Antauri was holding back like he always did! The sickness in him edged back slightly in response to his anger. "That's not fair!" he shouted.

Meanwhile, outside of the cell, green eyes studied the young lad. The owner of those eyes had heard talking for a moment before silence had fallen, and now the boy was shouting to the air? She moved away quickly, knowing she had to inform Mandarin of what she'd witnessed.

" _Right now, it is not as important as getting you free from what is making you sick! That is the only reason I will not tell you this instant, Chiro!_ "

"You said you'd tell me the truth! You said we're a team, that we don't hold secrets, but that's what you're doing right now!" The anger rose in him, his sickness diminishing. "Just go away if you're going to lie to me!"

" _I have not lied to you! Do you not see? He's getting you to doubt yourself! Look within, Chiro! When in doubt, trust yourself!_ "

"How can I trust myself if no one will tell me the truth about my past, Antauri?" Chiro demanded, furious, his energy fluctuated slightly.

" _Because the past might not be how you expect..._ " Antauri sighed. " _The man who may have been your father is no longer the good man he used to be. That is all I will say on the subject for now._ "

Chiro balked, hurt and upset. "How could you hide this from me?" he cried.

" _I'm sorry, Chiro. We have only recently learned of this ourselves. We do not fully believe it. I had suspicions, but... I promised I would explain everything to you when we find you, and I will!_ "

" _Simian_ _Soul_..."

Chiro's body was suddenly enveloped in green light, surrounding him in an orb. His connection to Antauri was cut off as suddenly as it had begun. Chiro jumped again, turning and looking behind him with shock and fear, horribly upset and ready to lash out at anyone. His connection to Antauri was lost, but he wasn't even that upset. "What do you want? Go away!"

Mandarin eyed him. "Talking to yourself, were you?" He looked over at his apprentice. "My recently found pupil has informed me that you were arguing with yourself. Or, perhaps, Antauri? Skeleton King had mentioned he might try to contact you. To sow seeds of doubt in your mind."

"I was not!" Chiro growled, finding himself unable to move.

The other being, stepping into the light, revealed herself as a light purple monkey much like the others. She gestured with her arms, bringing the young leader towards them. "You screamed. Was someone talking to you, Chiro? Was someone trying to harm you?" Setting him down, she released him from the orb. Her emerald eyes sparkled with mischief. "You've grown some, Iwo."

Chiro blinked, staring at this shocking creature. Another robot monkey?! How was that possible? Antauri hadn't mentioned another! None of them had! Then again, they hadn't mentioned Mandarin or the possibility that Skeleton King was his father, either. How many other secrets were they holding? How could they call him friend and then do this?

She tilted her head. "You do not remember me?" she asked, a soft, inviting smile on her face was friendly, not false.

"You do not remember CG-5? Cogs, as you affectionately called her?" Mandarin asked slyly.

"Uh... no. Why would I remember a purple monkey girl? I'm sure if I did, I wouldn't be so darn confused!" Chiro argued.

"You would play with her when you were both infants, Chiro. Or is that another memory buried away? Perhaps we should try to find it." Mandarin smiled cruelly. He knew he could enter the boy's mind and retrieve or fabricate a memory. It would be painful... for the boy.

"Infants?" He frowned. How was this... Was it all true? "You... What?"

She nodded eagerly.

"How is this possible? I don't understand!"

Cogs frowned. "I'm going to guess nobody ever thought to tell you?" That concerned look was on her face again. "Anything about your past?"

He shook his head, anger rising in him again.

Mandarin purred, feeling the negative energy rising in the boy. Perhaps this would be easier than he thought!

"Well either way, it's good to see you again. And I'm glad to see you're safe. I was meant to be your guardian as you grew, but I was not awakened when you were found," Cogs explained.

"Safe? How can I be safe in this place! I'm here with bad guys!"

She tilted her head, confused. "Do you see me as a bad guy?" That hurt, being called such a thing. She was not a bad guy! None of them were! It was the others that had been turned evil. That had taken Chiro from her and left her to rot.

"I don't even know you!" Chiro yelled again.

Mandarin sighed. "Cogs, enough. This is getting nowhere, my child. Perhaps he will remember. For now it's best to not bother him with questions he currently does not have the answer to," Mandarin interrupted the pair.

Chiro looked over at Mandarin. "Your child? What the heck is going on. I don't understand! Go away! Just leave me alone!"

"Very well, boy. As you wish." Mandarin turned to leave with Cogs. "Chiro, I can help you retrieve your lost memories. All you have to do is say the word."

Cogs turned and gave Chiro a little wave before leaving with her master, the bars returning over the entry.

The short teen frowned and sat back down on his bed, trying to calm down. Quietly, he called back out for Antauri, for anything, but heard no reply. He was alone once more.

 _.~*~._

Chiro was not sure how much time had passed since he first arrived, but he knew he had had enough meals for it to have been a few days. Since that initial anger that first day he'd been there, he was sick once more, barely able to keep anything down.

He was confused and conflicted, wanting things to go back to the way they were. This wasn't fair. Things were so simple. Skeleton King was evil and the Monkey Team was good. He knew this truth, so why did his belief waver? Was it because the team had yet to retrieve him as promised? Was it because Antauri had not contacted him again, leaving him alone?

He had tried several times to break out, and the one time he had almost been successful he had nearly died due to the sudden lack of oxygen. If it hadn't been for that purple monkey, Cogs, he would have died. Cogs had then told him that this room was specialized for the oxygen his lungs needed to survive. Everywhere else the oxygen was weaker. Still present but much weaker.

As the days waned on, Chiro found himself starting the like the odd little monkey. It was almost as if he were back home at the Super Robot. Was that even home anymore? He was unsure. It was like back at the Orphanage, never quite home. Was it because he did not have a family? Was the Team his family? Couldn't be. He couldn't even be seen in public with them! That wasn't a family.

They only wanted him for his power. They called him their leader, but that made no sense, either. He was so much younger than them. Why had he been put in charge? Why was Antauri not the leader? He should have been! He had the most experience, and yet they had put an inexperienced boy as leader. What had they been thinking?

Not to mention the way they got upset with him when he did something wrong, or laughed when he made a mistake. Was it playful banter or mocking? He was afraid to find out, yet the knowledge he sought was starting to drive him mad.

He loved the Team – they were the first feeling of family he had ever had. But was Skeleton King true? Was Shuggazoom responsible for their separation? Antauri had pretty much said that Skeleton King was his father, so did that mean that Antauri actually knew the true history of the city? If so, why had he hidden it? Or did he not know, as Skeleton King said, and was not aware he was fighting on the wrong side?

Chiro was confused and hurt. He tried not to cry, but some nights [or days, as he couldn't tell the difference in space] he could not help it. The sickness came and went. Mandarin said that he would be less ill if he just embraced his true heritage, yet, how could he? What Skeleton King was doing to the people of the city was horrible. So many deaths... Those people were not the ones from so long ago that caused his desperation, so why?

Perhaps Chiro could make him see sense. Remind him that the past was the past and that this was a new age. Yeah, that could work! He could stop the fighting, the war, and no one else would be hurt!

Getting up, he walked to the cell doors and looked at the guards. "I wish to speak to... to my father." The word felt weird, rolling off his tongue, but also somewhat familiar.

The two Formless glanced at each other for a moment before one of them left to summon the bone king.

Chiro took a deep breath and walked back to his 'bed' and sat down, awaiting the one who claimed fatherhood over him. If he could convince him to stop the war, then they could both go back to Shuggazoom City and live on the planet. He could get the Team and the bone king to stop fighting. He was sure of it!

The sickness overtook him once more as the Negative Energy in the room rose as Skeleton King approached. That overwhelming urge to throw up had him fighting against his own body to keep what little food he had inside of him.

Skeleton King smiled, watching him struggle. "Ah, Chiro, I see you still have not embraced your true heritage, though you summoned me as your father. Interesting."

"Yes, well, I..." He gulped, swallowing back down the vomit. "Ugh. You have... Well, I'll be frank. Why don't you stop this war? These people are not your enemies any longer! They are not the ones who hurt you! They're not the ones who abused the Monkey Team and used them against you! Please, F-Father, end this war. End the suffering!"

Skeleton King's expression was surprised, but quickly turned to rage as he lifted a hand and raised the boy off the bed in a telekinetic chokehold.

Chiro choked and gagged, struggling to get free. To get some precious air. Why?! What had he said wrong? Why would his possible father do this to him?!

"They were built to destroy me, Chiro. Programmed into their mainframes, nothing will change that."

"Well, maybe if... if you say you're sorry?" he asked, gasping and realizing he had stupidly used up the last of his air supply with an extremely dumb question.

Skeleton King's eyes narrowed at the idiocy of the boy. "Even if I did, I rather doubt the whole of Shuggazoom would be forgiving." Seeing as the boy was turning blue he let him go.

Chiro fell to his knees, gasping and his mind reeling. "I should... have realized... that I can't trust you... You won't try... you just want to take over! You're evil! If you weren't, you wouldn't have hurt me!"

The boy only had to look at the rage in the bone lord's eyes to realize that he had blown his chance at safety and not being harmed. Skeleton King would no longer sit back and let him sit in his cell. As the Formless dragged Chiro away, he tried his hardest to call out to the Team he was now positive were not coming.

* * *

 **Hi! Thanks for reading my first SRMT story! I originally wrote this seven years ago and decided to rewrite it since I had never published it. So many things changed and my ideas grew. I hope you've enjoyed reading! Please leave a review!**

 **I'm planning on Saturday weekly uploads. :)**


	5. Part Four - Fleeting Time

**Hi, there! I've brought in a new chapter! Thanks to those who favorited and the two people who reviewed. I hope that you enjoy this next chapter! :) Sorry for the delayed upload. I've had no internet for two weeks, and am only able to upload this when at a neighbor's in order to work on stories and upload. I'm so sorry!**

* * *

 **.~*Part Four – Fleeting Time*~.**

Antauri broke out of his meditation after being thrown back into his own body by whatever force had blocked him so suddenly from Chiro. His head radiated with pain as he tried to gather his information on what had just happened. No one, not even Skeleton King, was powerful enough to break such a connection between the two of them!

Closing his eyes, he ignored the others as they tried to ask what had happened. He had to piece things together for himself. Chiro was angry and hurt. He was exhausted. He was already starting to change. Skeleton King had told him what Antauri was not sure was the truth. That he was his father.

How could that be? He did not want to believe it himself, but in a way it made sense. Chiro had no family or history. No relations at all on the planet. Was it actually possible? And if so, why did Skeleton King only take him now? Not when he woke months ago? Why keep challenging the boy instead of claiming him?

Perhaps it was all a lie. Perhaps he was not Skeleton King's son at all. How could Chiro have been born with the Power Primate, but Skeleton King radiating such Negative Energy? There was no explanation for it. Sure, Chiro had no known past, but that did not mean that the bone lord was his father or even related to him!

Antauri knew that they would have to visit the orphanage again as soon as they were able to escape. That is, if they could escape. How could they when Chiro's life hung in the balance? One wrong move and he would be harmed. No, they needed to think this through.

If and when they got Chiro back, what then? Would he be able to salvage the situation? What if Chiro chose to stay? Could they fight against their former leader? Antauri doubted it. There were too many memories for them to battle him.

The black monkey found himself dreading turning against another leader. What was it about the color orange that turned them bad? Chiro had a good heart, as did Mandarin at one time. Would Chiro become the same as Mandarin? Would they be strong enough to imprison him? Or worse? To lose Chiro, one so young... It would be devastating for the team. They all had come to love the wayward boy and his antics, amused by the innocence of the child. Of humans in general.

They were all still learning to work as a team with the teenager, who was often either fairly cocky or frightened of the battle before him, though he was getting more and more used to it. At times, Antauri was worried about bringing a mere child into the fighting, but they hadn't any other choice. In order to battle with the Super Robot, they needed a sixth person who could connect using the Power Primate, and other than Mandarin in his H.O.O.P, Chiro was the only candidate, and they had looked.

The Team came to change in their behavior towards others, even starting to allow some other people into the Robot.

However, if Chiro _was_ Skeleton King's son... things were already changing for the worst. He could sense things amongst his team. Questions with no answers. Would they ever trust Chiro again? Antauri was not sure. Could _he_ trust Chiro again? It was not the boy's fault for his parentage, but if he should change, then there was nothing Antauri could do.

He tried contacting the boy again, but was blocked either by the strange energy or Chiro; he was not sure, but it was worrying.

Settling down, he forced himself to go lay down, ignoring the soft questions of the others as they tried to figure out what was going on. He was exhausted, far too exhausted to speak at the moment.

There was one more thing he could do – send out a silent alarm to an old friend. How long it would take to reach her, he did not know. He just hoped that it would.

 _.~*~._

A week passed as the Monkeys worked alongside the citizens digging the pit, with Antauri getting sicker the further down they dug. Some mornings it took help to get him on his feet. What was it about this Pit that was making him so ill? Where was all this Negative Energy coming from? It couldn't be all the Formless – they had battled more in the past. Could it be the negativity of the citizens who blamed them for not helping them to escape? Possibly. Or was there something else about this place?

Hitting his knees again, Antauri breathed heavily, only able to lift his head when he felt paws on his shoulders.

"Antauri," Nova spoke softly, helping him up. "Are you going to tell us what is going on with you? You haven't spoken to us in days. We're worried."

The black monkey sighed and nodded. Perhaps it was time. It did not seem like Jinmay would be arriving; his message must not have reached her. "It is this place," he said finally. "The further down we go..."

"The worse you get," Nova finished. "But why? What do you feel that we don't?"

"Such Negative Energy. Energy that only comes from true evil. I have been trying to analyze it myself to no avail. It troubles me greatly." He struggled to remain standing, even with her help. "I am glad you don't feel what I am."

Nova frowned and left him for a moment, going to a Formless. Normally she'd snap at one of them or destroy them rather than ask for help, but Antauri was getting very sick. "Excuse me," she said, gaining one's attention. She felt horrible about even asking. "My friend is very sick. If we do not get him some rest, he will die."

The Formless studied her, head tilted as if processing her request.

"Please!" Nova begged, disgusted but hiding it well.

The Formless lifted his head and looked past her towards the fallen black monkey. To Nova's despair, it moved away from the duo and left.

"Figures," she spat. "Stupid creatures of ooze. No feelings at all!" She hurried back to Antauri and helped him back up, feeling helpless about not being able to break out of this place. "I'm sorry, Antauri. I tried to help."

"Save your strength, Nova. Do you know where the others are?" he asked, exhaustion slipping into his voice. He began to wonder how the people of Shuggazoom City were fairing with all this hard labor. He knew that they blamed the Monkey Team.

"Digging three levels down," she responded. "They're actually being allowed to use their weapons, but if they try to fight..."

"I know. Chiro or the citizens will come to harm," he finished.

Nova pierced her lips for a moment, thinking. "Antauri... This is the first time I've heard you speak his name in a week. What has happened? Don't hold it in any longer. We're all hurting by the kid's absence."

"Nova... The boy is angry. He is confused and hurt, and I believe he misinterpreted what I said." He explained to her, the best he could, what happened. "If Skeleton King manages to corrupt him, we will lose him forever. Chiro has weaknesses that will be exploited. I fear his wish for wanting a family may backfire on all of us."

She frowned. "Do you think that bonebag is really his...?"

He looked thoughtful, but kept his guard up as a few Formless appeared. "I believe... that it is possible. They both have raw power, and on opposite ends of the scale. Perhaps... Perhaps long ago, Skeleton King once was able to control the Power Primate, too."

"Then what went wrong?" Nova, too, had noticed the Formless and knew she'd have to leave him to get back to work soon. "What changed him? Was it what changed Mandarin?"

"That, I do not know. What I do know is that he is our enemy now, and that no matter what, we will rescue the bo-" he froze and let out a pained cry, feeling a wave of energy rolling through him.

Nova's fur stood on end in shock at the pure energy. "That's Chiro!" she hissed. Listening, she could hear Otto, Gibson, and Sprx's cries of alarm at the feeling of the energy. Looking at Antauri, her eyes widened and she tried to wake him up from where he'd gone silent.

 _.~*~._

 _Antauri looked around the plain field, gazing out at the blackness. He could feel pain, helpless and hopelessness. So strong and yet so frail. Crying in the distance drew his attention and he began walking in the direction it was coming from. "Chiro? Chiro, are you here?" he called softly, worried about who might be listening in._

 _There was a shaky answer, and Antauri breathed a sigh of relief, moving faster. But when he finally spotted the body the voice belonged to, he stopped short, eyes wide in shock._

 _Chiro was covered in cuts and bruises. Across his face were three slash marks, deep and would easily scar no matter what healing was done. Jeans and school uniform top torn, hair dishelved with natural bodily oil and grease, and eyes filling with darkness and dispair. His body trembled with fright, shivers and shakes. He looked half starved, and oh so very afraid._

 _"Chiro... Chiro, what have they done to you?" He gasped when he found his voice again. "I'm right here. Shh..." Assessing the boy's wounds, his face grew even more worried at the odd injuries that looked fairly familiar. "Who did this to you?" he murmured. Those marks..._

 _Hearing his voice, Chiro seemed to realize who he was talking to and backed away, slapping Antauri's paw away violently. "Get away from me! Haven't you done enough?!" he cried, shaking more than ever. "Or have you forgotten using your ghost claws?!"_

 _Antauri frowned, confused and lost as to what the boy was talking about. He studied the injuries and his eyes widened, realizing why they were so familiar. Those marks on his face, that's what he left on monsters he battled. Those bruises? They were from Nova. The burns? From Sprx's magnents. The cuts were from both Otto and Gibson._

 _Briefly, Antauri made the connection. The previous night, in his dreams, he had battled Mandarin, trying to free Chiro. He had cut him across the face with his claws..._

 _Meanwhile, Chiro backed away again, fear radiating off of him. "G-Go away! I t-thought you were my friend! I thought you were all my friends! Mandarin and Father are right! You are evil!"_

 _Antauri took a step back, realizing just what he had done and what Chiro had said. He'd called Skeleton King his father. Somehow, Mandarin or Skeleton King had trapped them in a living dream world and caused them to hurt Chiro physically. Turning him against them on their own. "Chiro, I... That... I can explain! It was a dream! An illusion put upon us by-"_

 _"Get out! GET OUT!" the boy screamed, eyes changing to a full green with no white to be seen, and a wave of energy knocking the black monkey down and back into his own body._

 _.~*~._

Nova was carrying him on her back as she ran with the other citizens of Shuggazoom towards freedom. In Antauri's absence, Jinmay, in her large robotic form, had appeared and trashed the place, freeing the people and the Monkey Team. She had battled well, taking down the large Formless masses on her own where the Monkey Team could not fight. Once she had defeated them, a rather quick battle, if one asked Nova, she had picked up as many of the citizens as she could and returned them to Shuggazoom, leaving the Monkey Team to travel with their jetpacks once the last citizens had been picked up.

Upon entering the city, she had noticed Antauri was starting to stir, free from the Negative Energy of the Pit. Feeling relieved, she set him down with a worried smile. "Antauri?"

The black monkey blinked a few times as his sensors came online. "Nova... Are we back in Shuggazoom City?" he asked, looking around, his optics focusing.

"Yeah. Jinmay showed up and rescued us."

"So she did get my distress call after all." Antauri breathed a small sigh of relief. "Is everyone safe?"

"Those that survived the week in the Pit, yeah... A good majority of the citizens, at least 95%. The rest starved or were overworked." As much as she hated it, she would accept the 95% survival rate, though she knew negativity towards the Team was high.

"And what of that Elevator Monster?"

"We haven't seen him yet. Not a sighting in days." Nova looked up as the others touched down after scouring the city for anymore danger. "Anything?"

"Nothing. And still no sign of Chiro, either," Sprx commented with a grumble.

"It would seem Skeleton King still has him," Gibson responded, looking down at his scanner he had retrieved from the Super Robot shortly after returning to it.

"You don't think he's hurt him, do you?"

Antauri stood. "No, Team. It was not Skeleton King that hurt the boy, but us. Tell me, last night did you have a dream of battling Mandarin?" At the others' surprised nods and confused looks, Antauri sighed. "It was not Mandarin we battled, but Chiro disguised as him. Chiro sustained the injuries we had given to that dream Mandarin, and now he has lost all trust in us," Antauri spoke softly.

There were cries of outrage and loud questions that Antauri was too weary to answer.

"The Kid knows we'd never hurt him! Surely he realizes it's one of old bonebag's tricks!" Sprx argued. "He's not stupid!"

"Unless he's been fear-conditioned," Gibson spoke up. "It's interesting research, actually, and entirely plausible. Their tactics are cruel."

"But Chiro is smart!" Otto argued. "He wouldn't fall for that."

"Otto, sweet and naïve, anyone can fall for such a thing, including Chiro," Gibson explained softly. "It may be possible to help him face this conditioning, but I fear that his distrust of us will always be there no matter what we try."

"You mean he's not going to like us anymore?" Otto looked crestfallen. Chiro had quickly become one of his best friends in the few months they had known each other, bonding over being the youngest members of the team.

Sprx wanted to make a sarcastic comment to that, but didn't have the heart to do so. Instead, he glanced up and focused on Jinmay coming in for a landing. "Hey, girly."

Jinmay looked at the red monkey, her pink and white hair shifting slightly. "Hey." After her last encounter with them after nearly destroying them at the hands of Sokko who had taken control of her, Otto had reprogramed her a bit with their universal translators that only worked with robots and those with their own translators. He still hadn't been able to apply it to Chiro's translator, though, so while the Team could understand humans, they could not be understood by humans. "I came as soon as I got your distress call, Antauri. Where's Chiro?" She looked around, confused.

The smaller robotic monkeys looked at each other and then at Antauri, who merely gestured for her to follow, and they all walked into the Super Robot.

 _.~*~._

"Skeleton King took him and claimed that he was his father?!" Jinmay asked, shocked.

"What is awful in that is that Chiro may have believed him, now more than ever after that horrible affair that he caused us to do to him. I do not understand how he was able to do it, make us believe Chiro was Mandarin in our dreams..." Gibson looked at her gravely.

The pink and white-haired robot frowned and shifted positions in the orange orb chair she sat in. She swiveled to look at the others, seeing the mixed expressions on their faces. "What are we going to do about it?"

"We?" Otto asked, surprised.

"We. Chiro is my friend. I'm going to help you save him."

Sprx grinned. "Right on, girly. Problem is, we can't find him. We don't know where the Citadel of Bone is, and there's no way to track it."

"Well, there might be a way, but... No, it would be impossible." Gibson flicked his eyes towards Otto. "Seeing as we currently do not have anything that could detect negative energy."

Otto looked thoughtful and then pointed at Antauri. "He can!"

Antauri looked disturbed at the idea, remembering how sick it had made him, something that he was still confused about. "I am not too thrilled on the idea, but if I must then so be it. However, right now we can go nowhere. Jinmay is not trained in battle yet, we need to resupply the robot for such a battle, and Sprx, you need to teach Jinmay to pilot."

The red monkey grinned. "I can do that easily!"

"Are you sure, my friend?" the team's chief of science observed worriedly, looking at Antauri. "You were in a terrible state in that infernal pit."

"Meanwhile I can get working on a new scanner!" Otto grinned, jumping up and disappearing up his tube to his room.

Antauri watched him with a small smile before turning to the others. "That is another task we must discover. Why that Pit was filled with such Negative Energy. Something is not right there, and we cannot leave Shuggazoom until we investigate." It pained Antauri to say this, but the others knew it was true. They couldn't leave Shuggazoom with such a threat, especially since they weren't sure how long it would take to locate Chiro.

"Well, let's go do that, then!" Nova spoke up. "Sprx and I can stay here and train Jinmay, and the rest of you can go to the Pit!"

"Your thoughts on this, Antauri?" Gibson questioned.

"I agree with Nova on this one. It would be best to do this sooner rather than later, but we are all in need of recharge. We will go tomorrow once we have recovered. Jinmay, can we entrust you with the city during this time?"

She looked nervous, yet nodded. "I'll try my best, Antauri."

The black monkey nodded. "Any objections? No? Then it is settled."

 _.~*~._

Months passed. Skeleton King had gone dormant and the people of Shuggazoom began to feel at ease again. The Monkey Team, however, only rested when they were about to break down from not recharging. They were hard at work, trying to figure out just what the bone lord's plans were.

Before Skeleton King had vanished, he had pulled all of them into a dream state where they found out their origins... and that their creator, the kind Alchemist, had turned into the monster they had come to know as the Skeleton King. Antauri believed the dream was an attempt to break them even further.

The next day, however, the Team made the decision to go find this lab. It was time to go to their birthplace. After looking over the Super Robot's computers, Otto was able to find a homing beacon of sorts, and that was what they were using as their guide to find the building.

Gibson was astonished as they looked over the landscape before them as the Super Robot flew into an enormous underground cave with its own ecosystem and source of light. Wild plants grew everywhere, and he found himself wanting to study them.

"Can't we just..."

"No, Gibson. We've come here on a mission. To regroup and find out what we can while we can," Antauri reminded, amused at his curious blue brother. "Perhaps when we find the lab you can study samples there."

The blue scientist sighed, but agreed, returning to look upon the viewing screen. "According to my scans, we should reach our destination very shortly. This area seems to thrive on both negative and positive energy, with the worst of it to the east of us, and the most positive to the west. Where we will be will be almost like a line of neutrality." He looked over at Antauri. "So you should be fine and able to counteract the Negative Energy easily."

"Good." Antauri smiled at him and then looked at the rest of the Team, including Jinmay.

"Are we there yet?" Sprx asked impatiently, bored out of his mind. He hated when the Super Robot was on autopilot. It gave him nothing to do but sit in the command center! Sure, the others were there, too, but Otto was tinkering with his latest project while Nova and Jinmay were discussing a training schedule.

"Almost, Sprx," Gibson responded. "Ah! We're doing into landing sequence. Seatbelts, everyone!" he hurried back to his orb chair, as did Antauri as the Super Robot descended and locked into place.

"Anyone else feel that?" Otto asked, blinking. Locking into place? That only happened at the park recharging station!

"Let's go, Monkey Team!" Antauri ordered. "Jinmay, just in case anything happens, I want you to stay here."

"Understood, Antauri," the robotic girl responded, sitting back down in her, well, Chiro's orb chair, while the others went to their tubes and down to the exit in the Robot's foot.

Gibson held his scanner as he looked around at the flora and fauna of the region. "Curious." Tall vines grew around them and strange creatures scampered about. However, the building behind them was one of the likes they had never seen before.

"Awe, look at the pretty flowers!" Otto said cheerfully, sniffing at a teal flower, unaware of the large plant that was moving towards him with large teeth.

"Look out!" Nova cried, pushing him out of the way and getting caught instead.

Antauri reacted fast and used his _Ghost Claw Attack_ to slice the vine of the plant, releasing her. "Are you all right? Be careful, Team. This world is not like our own. Let us hurry inside."

There were no arguments from the others as they followed him up to the doors, frowning when they couldn't make them budge. "Uh, now what?" Otto asked, scratching the back of his head.

The black monkey frowned for a moment before holding out a ghost paw, letting the Power Primate flow through him. It worked on the Robot, so perhaps... Yes! The doors swung open.

"Wow! How'd you know that would work?" Otto asked, looking at him in awe.

"I didn't," Antauri answered truthfully. "Come along." He led the way inside the dusty and cobweb-covered building.

The lab was astonishing. There were experiments everywhere, from machinery to weapons that had never been seen before. There were numerous computers and tools, and tall empty tubes much like their healing chambers. There was so much space!

"Wow..." Nova breathed, taking it all in as she shined her headlight around, the others doing the same. "So he wasn't lying... He really was the Alchemist that created us."

"But why did such an obviously good soul turn to such ruthless evil?" Gibson questioned, looking over at her.

"The morning leaves many questions from dreams," Antauri responded. "That is what we are here to find out." He smiled at Gibson's satisfied nod.

"Hey! What's this?" Sprx asked, touching a pillar that had a couple of buttons on it. Without waiting on an answer, he pressed the big square one and leapt out of his skin as a sudden large hologram appeared before them in the shape of the man they had seen in their dream/nightmare.

Otto and Nova both let out startled screeches at the sight, tails straight in the air in shock.

Antauri blinked, equally startled, but looked upon the video with Gibson. "A video log?" he asked, looking at the scientist, who nodded.

 _"I leave this series of recordings for upcoming generations. I am Skelking Carrington, the Alchemist of Shuggazoom. My brother and I are the last remaining Carringtons in the universe, the rest of us killed off by the very thing that gave us our powers. Yes, it extended our lives to twice that as normal homosapiens, but was the price worth it? These are the questions I ask myself every day. As we grow older, our powers begin to diminish. Where we were once able to defend ourselves, our powers fail us and that is how many of us fell._

 _"As such, I am creating a new fighting force, a race of warriors whose genetic codes had been given to me on Coronadol. These warriors shall protect the world when my brother and I inevitably fall. It is a time I do not wish to think of." He glanced to the side as the cry of a baby was heard. He sighed and disappeared from view._

 _The video focused on six tubes behind the missing figure where baby monkeys floated in different colored liquids._

"Is that us?" Otto asked as silence in the video fell.

"I believe so, yes," Antauri answered.

 _The Alchemist retook the screen. "Oh, that kept recording? Oh well. Yes, behind me are my mecha warriors, the Monkeys. I had tried one to start with, a purple one I named CG-5, but she was ultimately a failure. Her implants aren't working properly. Perhaps because I have not accelerated her growth. On the other hand, my first enhanced one has been 'born' today. I have named him Mandarin. He has strangely taken a liking to the deformed monkey and has been rebuilding her, almost, with spare parts. He has been hard at work for quite some time._

 _"Now has come the time to grow my other monkeys, if my brother's young charge will allow me."_

They averted their eyes as the screen began flashing with energy. Finally, when they looked back, they found their original selves, the different colored monkeys.

 _"Ah, perfect. These are my – No, Chiro! Don't touch th-!_ "

The screen went black and the team blinked, glancing at each other for a moment. Had he just said...

Sprx looked at the control panel again, pressing an arrow. This time, they were prepared for the upcoming video, but not what it showed.

 _A large pair of baby blue eyes were staring into the camera, filled with curiosity. The eyes pulled back, revealing the oh so cute face of their very young leader, drooling slightly while holding a stuffed monkey in his arms._

 _"Ah, Chiro, you found your uncle's camera!" Another figure appeared in the image, a much older-looking Chiro – Clayton Carrington. He was floating off the floor and picked up the young child. "I don't think he's going to be pleased with you messing with his logs, young hero."_

"That's..." Antauri stared at the figure, feeling as if he almost remembered him.

 _"Oh, don't babble at me, mister," Clayton laughed. "Come on, let's take you to Antauri to be babysat. I have to head out on a mission, Chiro. Shuggazoom City is in trouble yet again. After that, I have a dinner date with the lovely Eva and her eye stalks."_

 _"No!"_

 _Clayton grinned and went closer to the camera and reached out, the screen going black._

"Wow, Chiro's gonna look great when he gets older!" Otto stated. "That Alchemist guy always is hooded, but that other guy!"

" _If_ he gets older," Sprx added darkly, pressing the arrow button again.

"Sprx!" Nova growled.

 _This time, it was just Clayton on screen again. "I figured I should add in my own video logs every once in a while. Hi there, to whoever is listening in the future! Maybe to Chiro or those monkeys if my brother ever finishes them. Haha! Okay, seriously, Chiro, this is a video log to answer some questions that you probably have. I don't know if I ever explain in the future, but I also never know if I'm coming home after my battles against the forces of evil, so I figure I should explain things now. So here goes._

 _"Chiro, you are no ordinary child. Never were. Probably because you weren't exactly born so much as created. Less than a year ago, my brother and I ventured to Coronadol to find out why our family line had come to an end. Both of us were sterile and there was no one else left of our family. Skelking, your uncle, says that the Power Primate killed them, but I think that's hogwash. They all just got old. He says I'm going to end up like them, too, but I think he's just jealous. After all, I had mastery of the Power Primate when I was eighteen, where he was nearly twenty-six before he had mastery! I'm the youngest master out of our clan, but I believe you will surpass us all, Chiro._

 _"Little one, you carry the hopes of the future on your shoulders. The Veran Mystics called you the Chosen One, the one destined to erase the Dark Ones, but at a great cost. At least, that's what I get out of the prophecy about you. Your uncle, though, says we should keep you locked in here because of the other bit the prophecy warned about – if you fell to the Dark Ones, you'd become the ender of times. Personally, I think the prophecy was referring to another one with that._

 _"Already at only six months, you are very agile. You've grown more than a human boy should. Perhaps the Power Primate has accelerated you a bit? Perhaps it knows how vulnerable a child is. I do. After all, it was only two days ago that we almost lost you to one of our enemies. Luckily, he did not know just what you were, or I fear we never would have been able to find you."_

 _Clayton looked behind him for a moment, the camera showing a little boy crawling about and trying to grab at monkey tails, talking happily with them and giggling when they responded to him. "Already, my boy, you've gotten used to your primate brothers. Oh, that's the other thing. See, they were born first, as my brother went to the Power Primate first to see what he would be given. I called them marbles, but those casings were just holding the DNA of our monkeys. You were born second, and with another, purple, marble. I gave that to my brother, and he decided to make that one a prototype of sorts. Let her grow and develop naturally._

 _"From what I've seen, he screwed up badly with her. Implants failed, she ended up losing her limbs and part of her tail. I don't know what he was thinking, but Mandarin, that orange monkey, saved her. Brought her back. She's become your best fri-" An alarm rang out, and Clayton sighed. "I'll finish this later, Chiro. Something's wrong in Shuggazoom." The screen went blank._

"That's it? What's this about a prophecy?" Sprx looked at Antauri curiously.

"I... I do not know, Sprx," the black monkey responded, his mind reeling. What was this prophecy? Chosen One? Destined to defeat the Dark Ones? Wait. How was he just realizing this? "This man, Clayton, claims to be his father..."

The others looked at them, the videos having throwing them for a loop. All those clues, and then the Alchemist outright saying it himself!

"Skeleton King lied to us!" Otto said.

"He's the lord of evil. Of course he's going to lie!" Sprx argued. "We should have realized that ages ago!"

"That means that while Chiro's still related, he's not actually his father!" Nova jumped up excitedly.

"Yeah, but the problem lies in what Skeleton King fills the boy's head with. So far, he seems to be doing a fair job in manipulating him, as Antauri said," Gibson replied.

"Yes..." Antauri frowned. "But when we get him back, we can show him these files. Show him the truth."

"I do have one question, though," Gibson stated, looking at his second-in-command. "If Chiro is from so long ago... what happened to his father? Who made the decision to send him into the future?"

"Let's find out!" Sprx said, pressing the arrow button and expecting to see Clayton's face, but instead found the Alchemist, his eyes red and cheeks wet.

 _"I am the last one left. My dear little brother never returned from his battle against the Dark One that was attacking the city. At just twenty-one years of age, my brother has fallen. His son, my nephew, does seem to sense that something is amiss, asking where his father is. I do not know what I am to tell him."_

The video series went on, the Monkey Team having fallen into a respectful silence when they learned the fate of Chiro's father.

The Alchemist had experimented on Chiro's Power Primate abilities and DNA as he grew older and used it to try and advance the Monkey Team's powers, yet only two really took to the Power Primate – Antauri and Mandarin – yet they all shared in it. They shared the boy's DNA, but none of his human traits. The Alchemist had been able to fully replicate the Power Primate in living simians, but not in his own fully robotic monkey that had become a failed experiment.

Later, they discovered that the Alchemist had been corrupted by the Dark Ones when his portal to the Netherworld had been breached by Mandarin by mistake, and that as a last-ditch effort to save the Chosen One, Chiro was sent through a time machine portal far, far into the future with the purple female that Mandarin had managed to save from failed experimentation named CG-5. She was sent with Chiro to serve as his guardian and protector, her memory not being erased of the past.

As for this CG-5, Antauri wondered about her even weeks later after their return to Shuggazoom City. Chiro's guardian? Was that who had blocked him from Chiro with a type of shield? He had sensed no malice in the actions of the blocker, so it must have been her. Perhaps she believed she was protecting the boy? That must be it. Did she realize, however, that she was blocking him from his protectors? His own family? The black monkey wasn't sure, but he knew he wanted to meet her. Perhaps help her. She must have been found by Skeleton King when Chiro awakened the Team. It was the only explanation why she was with him at all. But why was the first they had ever heard of her?

He would sometimes slip into meditative stances for hours on end, trying to reach Chiro, but nothing was working. The boy had blocked him or something else did. All their efforts to seek out the Citadel were futile. It was as if it had left the galaxy all together, and Antauri wondered what state the boy would be in when he returned.

He feared the return and what he might have to do. If Chiro had been corrupted with no way of saving him, then Antauri would have to put him down. Was it possible? Could he do that to the boy he saw as a son? Could he bring himself to destroy him?

Meanwhile, the others had been working on their battles strategies for such an event. Sprx and Nova had upped Jinmay's training and piloting skills, and all were helping out with her weapons and fighting abilities. They had made her an honorary member of the Hyperforce, and Antauri had taken over as leader.

While the others were anxious about Chiro's return, they couldn't help but wonder if they had lost him forever. What they would do if they faced him in battle. Like Antauri, they wondered if they could be strong enough to bring him down.

"Otto! Stop getting into my lab!" Gibson shouted as he chased the green monkey out of his laboratory with a wrench in his paw.

"I'm sorry! I just needed the one part!" Otto argued back, dodging him easily.

"I don't care! You took it from my lab, now give it back!"

"Nuh-uh!"

Jinmay watched this all from her orb seat, greatly amused. She was in her new Hyperforce uniform, much like Chiro's but in dress form with black boots, and had a pink scarf instead of orange. She needed no mask for hers, and instead when she went into fighting mode her human-looking appearance and color turned to a charcoal and black chrome plating. She laughed, watching with amusement as the duo fought each other with no malice before turning her attention to Sprx and Nova, who were battling with holographic monsters.

Antauri hovered above his orb, watching with dissatisfaction. How could they be messing around instead of training? They needed to make sure they were ready for Skeleton King's return! Instead, they were playing games and arguing over insignificant parts! He was about to raise his voice when he felt a pulse flowing through him.

Chiro.

 _Antauri entered into meditation, seeking out the boy's energy. He found it immediately and almost smiled until he felt the raw anger filling the void in which they stood, staring at each other._

 _Chiro, now dressed in black but still with his characteristic orange scarf and mask markings, glared at the robot. "I've returned."_

 _Antauri looked at him, shocked. The boy's eyes had turned hard and cold. His very being screamed of anger and rage, but also a stillness that was so unlike him. "Chiro, are you all right?" He could feel something from him, something familiar. A cry echoing softly around him. A cry for help?_

 _"Oh, I'm all right. And I'm coming back to Shuggazoom... to destroy you." He put a hand out and a beam of purple energy struck the startled monkey, knocking him off his feet and back into his body._

"Antauri!" Jinmay called, seeing him fall. She hurried and caught him before he hit the ground. "Antauri, are you all right?!"

The others gathered around, their arguments and games forgotten.

"I will live," he groaned, opening his eyes. "Chiro has returned."

Otto let out a yell of excitement, worrying about nothing.

"They've corrupted him."

Before anyone could react, the Super Robot's alarm rang out. They all rushed to the screen and looked at the city's cameras, seeking out the threat. Upon finding it, gasps were heard as they saw the massive horde of Formless entering the city. At the front of the horde were three figures. As the image cleared, the forms of Mandarin and a mutated monkey they had only read about in the Alchemist's journal, one known as CG-5 or "Cogs" were seen leading the fray. And in front of them... was Chiro.

* * *

 **Hi! Thanks for reading my first SRMT story! I originally wrote this seven years ago and decided to rewrite it since I had never published it. So many things changed and my ideas grew. I hope you've enjoyed reading! Please leave a review!**

 **I'm planning on Saturday weekly uploads. :)**


	6. Part Five - Corruption

**Hi, there! I've brought in a new chapter! Thanks to those who favorited and the two people who reviewed. I hope that you enjoy this next chapter! :) Sorry for the delayed upload. I finally have internet again, so I've been working on all my stories, including a Dragon Booster story called "Winds of Change", so if you're a fan of my work and of that show, go check it out!**

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 **.~*Part Five - Corruption*~.**

"My Lord," Mandarin said softly, his voice filled with disappointment. "Even the illusion has not changed the boy's heart. He still believes and trusts in them. He is angry, I sense, and afraid, yet-"

"Then punish him more! He will turn! He is the Chosen One! When we corrupt him, he will make a grand ally!" Skeleton King hissed, glaring down at the orange monkey with disdain.

"Yes, I know, my Lord Skeleton King. I do have a plan, but it will take us far across the galaxy for it to work," the orange monkey said silkily.

"Speak, then."

"There is a larva that secrets a venom that makes the mind susceptible to persuasion. It is called the Aoiaus and lives in only one place – the planet Woeir – far on the other side of the galaxy. The boy will fall victim to its venom and he will be yours to do with as you please. It will take us some time to not only reach Woeir, but to find one of the beasts."

Skeleton King stared at him and smiled. "For once, you have a good idea. Let us go and find this insect. In the meantime, continue your work on the boy. Break his spirit. What of that apprentice of yours? Has she shown any concern for him?"

"Yes, my lord. It worries me. It would seem she still cares for him after all this time."

"Then we will use the larva on her as well. Will it work?"

"I believe so, yes. She will be an excellent ally in the coming war. The larva grows into a bug that corrupts machinery." Mandarin frowned, not liking this idea of subjecting Cogs to mind control. She already was loyal to him and would never disobey, so why?

Skeleton King began to laugh. "Then I believe it is time to tell those filthy primates the reason they exist. That it was I who created them. Continue your duties with the boy and we shall leave orbit very shortly."

"Yes, My Lord." Mandarin bowed and floated away.

 _.~*~._

Chiro started to close his eyes, exhausted. He hadn't been allowed to sleep in days, not since the Formless had taken him to his dungeon and trapped him in the webs that bound his hands and feet. His body ached from the constant abuse and energy attacks from both Mandarin and Skeleton King. The only one who never harmed him, only cleaned up, was Cogs, the odd purple monkey that claimed she knew him from a past that he could not remember.

Right now, she was patching up a recent laceration on his chest from Mandarin's energy blade. The purple monkey was quiet as she worked at cleaning up the blood, wondering why Chiro just didn't give up on the false notion that the Monkey Team on Shuggazoom were the good guys. After all, Cogs knew they weren't. Mandarin and Skeleton King had said so! Mandarin and Skeleton King had saved her after the people of Shuggazoom had left her to rot in that pod. If they were really the good guys, they would have saved her, too, right?

Yet, as she thought about it, she remembered her brothers' antics. Antauri's kind wise words to her, Otto's playful mannerisms, Sprx's snappy comebacks, Gibson's brains, and sister Nova's kindness and temper. They weren't evil, but they were unknowingly serving evil. It was a terrible and cruel trick of nature. How could they turn against their creator, though he, himself, had changed gravely in appearance and behavior?

"Iwo... Chiro, can I ask you a question?" she said finally as she finished applying the gauze. Would he even talk to her? She wasn't sure, but it was worth a shot. She had to keep him away, anyway, or Mandarin and Lord Skeleton King would be angry.

Blearily, Chiro opened his eyes and looked at her with confusion. She was actually talking to him? He hadn't heard her voice since she told him that she knew him. He had found that he couldn't blame her for what was being done to him. She wasn't the one hurting him, but trying her best to heal him. He felt a stillness around her, a positive energy. A trace of the Power Primate. She felt so familiar to him, and he found himself missing her whenever she left his side to go do whatever it was she did here.

"Only if I can ask you one in return," he responded, voice hoarse.

She nodded. "Why do you fight against our creator with the traitors?"

"Our creator?" Chiro repeated, confused. "Traitors?"

She nodded. "Antauri and the others. They betrayed us. Fight for those who wanted to harm you and father. Fight for the ones who left me behind to rot instead of awaken me when they took you."

"Took me?" He frowned, looking thoughtful. "You mean the people who took me to the orphanage when I was a baby? How'd you know about that?"

"Chiro, I was sent with you into the future to act as your guardian. To protect you from those who mean you harm. They... They left me behind instead of awakening me with you. Until Mandarin and Skeleton King found me, I slept on while you grew alone."

The teenager felt an immense sense of sadness at her words. He could hear the pain and loneliness in her voice and knew her words were true. These were not the words of someone manipulated by the Skeleton King, but of genuine sadness. He knew just what that was like, being completely and utterly alone. "I... If they are actually evil, I do not know of it. They are not the ones who hurt him in the past. These are innocents, only guilty of being good people. I tried to make... to make Skeleton King see that, but he got really mad and now I'm like this."

Cogs frowned at that. Is that what had happened? Is that why now Chiro was bound like he was? Mandarin had told her it was because Chiro had accepted Skeleton King as his Lord and Master and was undergoing harsh training and allowing himself to be broken so he could be mended anew! "You did not ask for this?"

"No! Why would I ask to be tortured like this?! I want to go home to the Monkey Team! I know they were not at fault for what happened. For those original injuries. Once I calmed down, I realized that they never would have done that. They never would have hurt me. It was one of Skeleton King's tricks! He had tricked them into doing it. I remember now. They kept calling me Mandarin. I must have been somehow disguised in their eyes. They were made to attack me." It had been a few days since the incident, and all his time alone here had made him think and realize things, that Antauri had been trying to explain what had happened.

She shook her head. Lord Skeleton King would not do that! For what purpose? Was it to show Chiro that the Team had been corrupted? That must be it. Why would they call him Mandarin, though? She could not explain that part. Gears in her brain began to turn, confused and worried. Could it be possible that what she knew was not correct? How could they both have different versions of the same events? What the Monkey Team had done to Chiro had hurt her, too. Not physically, but mentally. The brothers and sister she had once knew had become cruel and hateful.

Why did they also seem to hate Mandarin? He was meant to be their leader! It had been a mutiny, Mandarin had said. He had told her that the Team would not listen to him that the people of Shuggazoom were evil. That they had turned on him and imprisoned him so that they could serve the planet as protectors.

"Now it's time for my question. Cogs... I sense the Power Primate in you. The Power Primate is positive energy. The Negative Energy around us is the corrupted power. You don't seem corrupted and are filled with positivity. I don't think you're meant to be here. Like me, you belong on Shuggazoom with the Monkey Team, fighting against Skeleton King! He kills and attacks with cruelty. There... There is no way he can be my father, Cogs. He is no friend of yours, either."

Her eyes narrowed. "I did not hear a question in that."

He sighed, realizing he probably didn't reach her. "Cogs, why do you follow him?"

"Because he created me. He created all of us. He created..." She frowned, looking at him, into his eyes, for the first time since he'd been there. She did not see the former Alchemist in them. Instead, she saw someone she had thought she'd forgotten. A memory began to form in her mind, one of a man with kind words and gentleness, yet also rash and somewhat immature. Someone who stood in the shadows of her creator. "He... He did not father you... He is your uncle."

"Uncle?!" Chiro was startled at this. "Then who is my father?!"

"I... I only remember him a little, but he looked like you. I think he was a warrior."

"CG-5!" Mandarin screeched, wandering in and yanking her away from him. "You have disobeyed me! I have told you to not talk to him! I am very disappointed!"

"But, Mandarin!" Her emerald eyes widened in fear. "I was merely making conversation with him while I tended to his injuries!"

He growled and used his telekinesis to throw her into the wall before shutting her down with a signal.

"Leave her alone!" Chiro screeched, struggling to get free. "I knew you were a bad monkey! Your energies are completely different! You're rotten to the core, just like Skeleton King! You're not victims! You're true evil!"

Mandarin's frown grew. "I see that she has gotten to you and told you the truth. Nonetheless, plans will continue." He threw Cogs to one of the webs and approached the boy. "You are going to wish you had never been born. I will break and then remake you into Lord Skeleton King's image." His frown turned into a smile as he removed his gloves, approaching him with his bare claws, grinning a sick grin as he prepared to make the boy scream.

 _.~*~._

Cogs whimpered as she watched Chiro suffering as the Citadel traveled through the galaxy. It seemed as if Mandarin was always there, making him cry out in pain, or Skeleton King was attacking his very mind, trying to corrupt him. Part of Cogs hoped Chiro would just give in, just to make his suffering end, but the other part of her knew he never would. He was a smart boy and his heart pure, despite what they did to him.

He believed in the Monkey Team, believed that they were coming for him. She found herself hoping that it was true. More than once, she had tried to contact the only one she knew would be able to hear her, Antauri, to no avail. They were just too far away, going who knows where. She had heard Mandarin mention a planet called Woier, but knew nothing of such a world.

Mandarin finally left the room, once again not touching her upon her web prison. He never harmed her, no matter how angry she had made him. She wasn't sure why. Was it because seeing Chiro being harmed was punishment enough? She made a move to speak to the boy, but paused, hearing Skeleton King enter and watched as Chiro got sick once more. She watched as he heaved at the heavy Negative Energy the bone lord emitted.

"Ah, still getting sick, I see. So, we have not yet been successful with breaking you. You are strong, boy. You will make a powerful ally."

"I'll never join you!" Chiro yelled at him, earning a hit to his belly that had him doubling over. "The Hyperforce is coming for me and they will destroy you!"

To their surprise, Skeleton King began to laugh. "The Monkeys? They don't care for you! They have replaced you!" He pulled up an image on TV Monster, who had accompanied its master to the dungeon. The image showed the monkeys training with Jinmay, teaching her how to fight and use her own robotic powers. Changing her into a warrior and no longer an innocent girl robot.

Chiro's eyes narrowed, watching this. It couldn't be true. They weren't training her to take his place, were they?! Was he that easily replaceable? "They wouldn't... They're just training her so she can fight you!"

"She has taken your place, boy! Whether or not you believe it is up to you, but the images are true! Seen by my spies!" Skeleton King cackled and walked away, leaving TV Monster to show Chiro continuing images.

The Team laughing with each other, pulling pranks, and fighting any monsters that came in. They showed no sign of coming for him as they walked around the city, visiting places he used to alone. The arcade. Mr. Gakslapper's burger restaurant. The ice cream store. Flying around the city together, not a care on their faces.

Somehow, an image of Chiro's room came up, showing that Jinmay had taken over, replacing some of his things with her own. She slept in his bed, woke in his room, and went to work with the Team.

Disappointment filled him as he watched the images unfold and sorrow began to cloud him. Why? Why had they replaced him? Had they really not cared for him? Was he so easily replaceable?

Cogs, sensing his distress, growled at the mecha. "Go away! Leave him alone!" She struggled to free herself, to stop this from happening, to destroy the images that plagued them. "Chiro, ignore them! They wouldn't replace you!" she cried, believing it for the first time herself. The way Chiro had spoken about them, there was no way they would just up and replace him!

Chiro tried to look away from the screen, but he was being drawn into it, his resolve suffering for it. Sorrow drifted into him, and he began to shut down mentally as he watched the Team do things with Jinmay they had never done with him.

The ends of her paws shifted back and forth. It had been so long since she had to use them. "Gnnyah! C'mon!" If only she could get her transformers to work! She could try, right? She squirmed, hating the feeling of the sticky stuff on her fur. " _Cl-Cleave Cr-Cracker!_ " Whilst that didn't do anything like an attack, it did allow her for a second to form one of her weapons: the oversized head of what looked like wire-cutting pliers. "Chiro, don't pay attention to it! Listen to me!"

It was as if a gear in her head had finally begun spinning at seeing his utter distress. Long-lost programming began running as she struggled to free herself and be rid of the object causing the boy pain. Anger shifted within her as her own abilities with the Power Primate began to stir. "Chiro!"

He shook his head, trying to focus on her voice, but the pain of betrayal was too strong. "They replaced me... they left me behind... They aren't coming," he whispered to himself, starting to believe every word. His Power Primate energy shifted slightly, turning from a deep green to one with purple in it.

"You know that isn't true!" Cogs cried. Somehow she knew her actions would have consequences, but she no longer cared. The boy was all that mattered to her. " _Simian Soul!_ " she screeched, green energy ripping out from her and enveloping him. The feeling of the negativity infecting him made her nauseous, but she held her ground. Connecting to him, she tried to lock onto his soul.

His negative emotions fought for dominance against her, misery seeping further into him. His injuries were nothing compared to this mental anguish.

"Chiro, please, listen to me! Fight this! You know in your heart they'd never betray you! Whoever that is, if she is a friend, she would not replace you!"

"Then why?! Tell me why she's there, sitting in my chair, using my bed, and laughing with them?! Tell me why they're doing things with her they refused to do with me!" he screamed at her, eye color shifting to purple.

She didn't know the answer but she had to try something to clear his mind. "They must be training her to help them come after you! From what I remember of the Super Robot, locked deep in my memories, is that it needs six beings to pilot it!"

He cried and struggled against her positive energy, miserable. How could she remain so positive? Her words... they made sense, but he was too broken inside to really comprehend them.

While she spoke, she fought against the webbing, managing to wriggle one of her arms free, the one with the pliers, reaching as far as she could to try and clamp onto TV Monster's antenna or wires. Something that would cease the boy's torment. This wasn't fair! "Leave him alone!" Her voice began changing from a known language into crazed simian shrieking, swinging her lethal pair of cutters left and right, trying everything to reach her target.

Finally, she reached at the other holdings in the web and cut through them. As soon as she was free, she gave a mighty leap and landed on the back of machine's head, stabbing and cutting into it. At last, her cutters hit a delicate wire and the machine collapsed, nothing more than a smoking husk now.

Chiro, free of the outside torment was still reeling on the inside, the images flashing on and on, bitterness rising. How could they do this to him? He was nothing anymore. He had no reason to exist!

Cogs ran over to him and climbed up onto his webbing, cutting into it. "Chiro, shh... They'd not replace you. You know this. I may not know them as well as you, but I know that they are loyal to a fault. Please, calm down."

He shook his head as he was freed and just fell to his knees in front of her, crying. Her _Simian Soul_ orb broke around him, her energy used up. "They... They've abandoned me..."

Her gaze lowered. "No, Chiro... They would never. They're training her to protect the planet so they can come after you. That has to be it..." she murmured, trying to calm him down. She suddenly began screeching as she was lifted off of him into the webbing once more, freshly wrapped.

Mandarin frowned, watching her. He had seen everything that had taken place and had come to realize he had lost her loyalty, which had switched to Chiro. No worries, the Aoiaus adult would handle that for him, regain her loyalty. He threw a small, colorful orb in his hand up, grinning as it opened and flew towards the lilac monkey, latching onto her head.

"I will have your loyalty again, CG-5," he murmured, watching as the bug began to work on her, digging its needle-like feet into her cranium, digging in through the metal plating of her helmet. Her struggles ceased and her eyes went blank.

Mandarin then turned to the boy who remained on his knees. He could see that he was broken inside from the images he had seen and smiled. It was time to remake him. Slowly, the orange monkey approached with a wriggling creature held at bay in his fingers. "Ah, my hairless monkey, the time has come to make you a pawn of evil. With you as our ally, we will win this upcoming war and Shuggazoom and the Hyperforce will fall!"

Chiro looked up at him for a moment, a spark of clarity in his eyes, but before he could react, Mandarin had pushed the larva into the teen's ear and stepped back, watching as the boy screamed in anguish, the creature burrowing through his ear canal, ripping into his eardrum, and making a path to the teen's brain.

Finally, after almost five agonizing minutes, Chiro's screams fell silent, his eyes becoming void of existence. He made no movement or sound, not even as Skeleton King entered the room, asking if it was done.

"Yes, my Lord. He has taken to the larva and is now yours to control. They both are."

"Good. Release the monkey and bring them to the ooze pit. It is time for their modifications..." Skeleton King turned and left without another word.

Mandarin nodded. "As you wish, my Lord."

 _.~*~._

At the foot of the main throne room, the source of Skeleton King's creations bubbled and glooped nauseatingly. Between the pool and the throne stood two forms.

Chiro stared through blank eyes, unable to move a muscle. He'd tried before upon regaining consciousness but something seemed to halt him in his tracks. Physically he stood stiffly, paying no attention to what went on around him, inside however... he was screaming.

"Enter the Pit of Ooze and be reborn, my hairless monkey," Mandarin grinned, watching as the boy began walking forward.

Chiro tried to fight against it, but it was as if he no longer had control of his body. Nothing he did worked. His head was aching from whatever it was that Mandarin had put into him.

As his feet touched the ooze, he felt the overwhelming urge to throw up, but nothing came from the sickness. It was then that he knew his body was not his own as he sunk deeper and deeper into the ooze until he was fully submerged within it, the darkness flowing into his pores and infecting his body with darkness, mutating it into a form of evil.

Skeleton King watched with interest, waiting on the boy to reappear. He turned slightly to regard Mandarin. "For once, your plan is working, Mandarin... I wonder how long it will take before he is mine, body and soul." A cruel smile graced his nightmarish face.

"With the larva nestled into his brain, he already belongs to you, my Lord," Mandarin responded, watching as the boy reemerged, his blue eyes purple and cold, his clothing reformed into a black version while the orange remained, and power radiated off of him. "Excellent."

Skeleton King looked over, smiling widely as he looked over his new pawn. He gestured for the boy to approach. "Good," he purred.

The teen did so, though every inch of him internally wanted to get as far away as he could. He felt sick but strong. He paused to look over himself, a twisted smile upon his face. He knelt on one knee before the bone lord. "Lord Skeleton King, I am your servant," he said in a voice that did not belong to him.

"Good, my Chosen One." The bone lord was pleased, so far, but he wondered. "Put the purple one in, Chiro," Skeleton King whispered, gesturing towards the silent simian still standing in front of the throne.

Cogs' eyes were dead and cold, any light diminished and giving no reaction to what went on around her. On her head was that infernal insect, clinging to her cranium with its rostrum and stinger buried deep within her synaptic relays. Its abdomen pulsed softly in time as it fed upon her positive energy, feeding back pure negative energy in its secretions. The only movement that came from her currently was a faint trembling as her body tried to fight back against the invader with her biological and non-robotic parts.

"Yes, my Lord." Chiro stood and approached the lilac monkey, picking her up. His mind began reeling, and he hesitated right above the pit. This was wrong, and he knew it. He couldn't do this to her! She was pure-hearted! Much more than he was. And she was his friend! He wouldn't betray his friend like he had been. "N-No..." he managed, fighting hard against the ooze and larva.

Mandarin frowned. Could it be possible that the boy was fighting against the larva? That was unheard of! No matter, he would not win. No one ever did.

"I said... PUT HER IN!" Skeleton King barked, eyes blazing with anger. "Do not disobey me, boy!"

He shook his head. "N-No! I w-won't!" Green energy began to swirl around him as his Power Primate abilities began to awaken.

Mandarin's eyes widened. Perhaps two larvae were needed! Good thing they had grabbed a second, third, and fourth. "My Lord, shall I put the second in?"

"You will place her in there, Chiro, or she will be destroyed. It is your choice, boy." He gestured assent to Mandarin with his staff. "If he does not obey me, then the second one you will use, Mandarin."

That caused the teen to pause, darkness slipping back into him as he realized he was in a hopeless position. If the Monkey Team had been her to back him up, he would have challenged the bone bag, but without them, the fight was useless. Tears rolled down his cheeks as he struggled against what he knew was right and what was wrong. "This is wrong," he whispered. "Do what you want to me, but leave her alone."

Mandarin's eyes narrowed and he jumped on the boy, forcing the second larva into the boy's head and listening to him scream in pain and drop Cogs into the pit as he held his head tightly. The orange monkey jumped back, dissatisfied with what was going on. He did not want this fate for Cogs, but if she hadn't disobeyed, it never would have happened.

CG-5, meanwhile, sank under the bubbling oily nauseating glop, the sound of what could have been a primal scream bubbled up to the surface.

The insect seemed to relish this as it began to feed upon this new source, filtering the poisonous viscous liquid through its body, so only the purest secretions were absorbed into her system, toxins flowing through its stinger deeply lodged within her brain.

What had once been robotic paws became vicious claws, feet savage and lethal. Her eyes went from an emerald green to a glowing neon, the dots in her eyes changing to scarlet. The primal sound that had been heard before sounded very different now: feral, almost rabid.

Slowly, she floated to the surface and upon climbing out, she walked silently towards the throne and prostrated herself. "My Lord Skeleton King, I am your servant. I pledge my allegiance to you; my soul is yours." Her voice had lost its warmth and had taken on a monotonous quality.

Inside his own body, Chiro watched in horror, but was unable to respond to her or to help her. This was his fault! What had he done? This... They were going to be made to fight Shuggazoom, and he couldn't stop it.

Mandarin did not smile at this transformation. He did not enjoy this change in Cogs. If only she had listened, she would not have been turned into a monster. Why had Skeleton King changed her so fully? The Aoiaus was enough to control her! Yet, Mandarin knew that this was Cogs own doing. If she had only listened and not spoken to the boy and told him the truth!

Skeleton King smiled and gestured for her to rise, watching as she instantly obeyed. "Perfect." He looked back over at the Chosen One with a cruel smile. "Now she will obey me without question, something you would do well to take upon yourself, boy."

Chiro wanted to scream, to shout, but all that came out of him was a "yes, master", and nothing more. He bowed before the bone lord, once again by Cogs' side. "Teach me, and I will learn."

Satisfied now of his allegiance, he gave a nod to Mandarin, ignoring what he could read off of the orange monkey's expression and emotions. "Teach them, teach them well. We have little time, Mandarin. Do not fail me."

"As you wish, my Lord," Mandarin nodded and began walking away, the duo rising and following him.

 _.~*~._

" _Hyaah_!" Chiro yelled as he attacked a Formless with a few punches, easily taking him down. "Master Mandarin, this is too easy! Can't we beef it up?" he questioned, looking at the piles of ooze around him. Nearby, Cogs was also easily destroying their training enemies.

Mandarin watched from where he hovered off the ground. He could see that the advanced Formless, large muscular ones that could regenerate their lost limbs, were weak now. That Chiro and Cogs were able to take them down after only a week of training was impressive. Perhaps it was time to bring in the remade Hyperformless. Pressing a button on the wall, he watched as a door open in the wall, revealing five monkey figures.

Chiro looked over at them, startled by the likenesses of the Hyperforce. The Formless were the colors of the team, but also with Formless abilities. On their heads were horns, and their bodies were black and white sans their colored faces and eyes. Even when they spoke they sounded like the team. Each had mecha gloves on, similar to Mandarin's, that activated their abilities.

The teen stood frozen for a moment, staring at them. Something in him stirred, but he had no time to dwell on it as the Otto clone attacked with green saws roaring to life. With a swift kick, Chiro had knocked the green clone into the wall.

Within, Chiro knew that this wasn't the actual Otto, yet he still felt awful at the injury he had caused. He didn't have much time to think as he was punched in the back by the Nova clone, knocking him to his feet.

Mandarin tutted. He could see that the boy still had some residual humanity in him, and while it wasn't very strong, it was enough that it made the boy hesitate still. "Clone Antauri, go."

The black clone moved forward, grinning. "Ah, Chiro. My greatest disappointment," he spoke as his paws switched to purple ghost claws.

The teen's eyes narrowed and Mandarin frowned. This show of emotion from the boy, even as he battled the black formless monkey, was troublesome. Could he still not be fully controlled? How was this possible? He should not be showing emotion! If Skeleton King found out, he'd punish the orange monkey, and Mandarin was not looking forward to that. No, he had to hide this himself.

Standing back, Mandarin also watched Cogs, pleased to see that she showed no emotion whatsoever as she battled the clones Gibson and Sprx-77. This was good and Skeleton King would be pleased. They were almost to Shuggazoom. The orange monkey missed their conversations they would have about philosophy, but this was for the best. She had begun asking too many questions, getting too soft.

She was a fairly good fighter, that much was certain, especially with her modifications from the Ooze. She was ready to be on the front lines, he noted as he watched her rip Sprx apart easily before going after the Gibson clone.

Chiro, however, was struggling with dealing with Antauri, Nova, and Otto, struggling a bit as he listened to their taunting words. Mandarin was not pleased with this. If the boy could not handle it, then what would happen when he battled the true versions? He watched as Cogs came and take over, taking on Otto and Nova, leaving Chiro to battle the black clone alone.

" _Monkey Mind Scream!_ " the clone shouted, using the limited Power Primate abilities Mandarin had managed to program into him, releasing a powerful blast that attacked the mind, and to Mandarin's surprise, Chiro collapsed and the two larvae slowly crawled out of his head and died.

"No!" Mandarin reached into his pack and grabbed two more larvae, the last, sending them back into the boy's head. This was a weakness that Skeleton King must not know about! Mandarin knew he had to take out Antauri before he could possibly free the boy from the influence of the Aoiaus. He quickly disposed of the two dead larvae. "Chiro, take him out! Now!"

As if fighting against his programming as the new influence began, Chiro refused for several minutes and the clone got in some nasty injuries on the teen before Chiro was finally able to react with a lightning bolt, the yellow tainted with purple.

Mandarin sighed with relief and waited a few minutes before leading the two to Skeleton King's throne room. It was time. "My Lord, they are ready. Three weeks of training, no issues. They have trained hard and trained well, as promised."

"Good. The three of you will lead my monster army into Shuggazoom and take the city by force. Shuggazoom City will fall, and so will the Hyperforce!" Skeleton King cackled, looking out the window at the pink planet. "Chiro, will you please herald that pathetic black monkey and announce our return?"

"Yes, My Lord," he responded, closing his eyes and opening his connection to Antauri for the first time in a long time.

 _Standing still, Chiro waited on Antauri to appear, and once he had, something slipped out. A cry for help. A beg, really, through his emotions._

 _"Chiro, are you all right?!" Antauri asked, staring at him in shock and trying to approach._

 _'_ No _,' he wanted so desperately to say. '_ I'm not all right! I'm suffering and I'm in pain! I can't control my own body! Help me, Antauri! Monkey Mind Scream me! Kill me! Something! Just make this pain stop! I don't want to fight you! _' Instead, what came out of his mouth was something completely opposite, stating that he was find and that he was coming to destroy him._

 _Much to Chiro's horror, his hand rose and an energy beam of purple energy shot out, hitting the black monkey._

' _Antauri_!' he cried silently, anguished, though his face showed no emotion. "They are informed, My Lord."

"Good... Let them suffer knowing that their Chosen One is the one chosen to destroy them!" Skeleton King cackled loudly, getting louder and louder as the Citadel of Bone entered the atmosphere and the invasion began.

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 **Hi! Thanks for reading my first SRMT story! I originally wrote this seven years ago and decided to rewrite it since I had never published it. So many things changed and my ideas grew. I hope you've enjoyed reading! Please leave a review!**

 **I'm planning on Saturday weekly uploads. :)**


	7. Part Six - Invasion

**Hi, there! I've brought in a new chapter! Thanks to those who favorited and the two people who reviewed. I hope that you enjoy this next chapter! :) Sorry for the delayed upload. I finally have internet again, so I've been working on all my stories, including a Dragon Booster story called "Winds of Change", so if you're a fan of my work and of that show, go check it out!**

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 **.~*Part Six – Invasion*~.**

Winged Formless soared through the skies, dropping their bombs on the streets below, hitting major targets and taking out several unsuspecting civilians. Following the first wave came the foot soldiers and mutts, creations made of bone and ooze that looked like wild dogs of a sort.

Citizens ran towards the safety bunkers, terrified of the invasion after so many months of no Formless, just a few stray giant monsters that were quickly taken care of by the Hyperforce. The Skeleton King had returned, and with a vengeance. Fear gripped the common folk, while in some areas, members of a secret Skeleton King society cheered and worshipped the invaders.

Tensions ran high as people pushed and shoved, desperate to get to the best hiding spot to wait out their troubles, and a few of the slower walkers were trampled to death. No one mourned for the loss of life; all were too preoccupied with what was going on around them.

" _Whoo-ee, would you look at them?_ " Sprx commented from his Fist Rocket. " _They've all gone nuts! It's like they've forgotten what an invasion was!_ "

" _They kinda have, Sprx,_ " Nova commented, looking at her own security footage as they made their way to one of the heaviest attacked areas. " _It's been a long time since this has happened._ "

" _Yeah, not since Chiro was..._ " Otto broke off, having forgotten about why Chiro was absent. " _Sorry_."

" _I'm afraid to say that if Chiro is leading this invasion, then we have lost him,_ " Gibson commented softly, not at all pleased with this deduction.

" _But Chiro's a good kid!_ " Otto complained. " _He'd not turn! They musta done something to him or something!_ "

" _We can only hope that's the case, Otto,_ " Nova responded with a confirming word from Sprx.

" _Yeah. Kid's got a good heart._ "

" _Maybe they implanted something into him... or used those fear tactics, like you guys said?_ " Jinmay questioned, her voice filled with concern.

" _Yeah, that's gotta be it. Chiro wouldn't turn on us! We're his friends!_ " Otto said cheerfully.

" _And family!_ " Nova finished, grinning. " _We'll get him back!_ "

Up in the Brain Scrambler, Antauri was deep in thought as he let the others take on the smaller Formless they encountered on their way to the park, which mainly involved squishing them. He listened to his team chatter, and tried to remain as hopeful as they. Something blocked him, though, from feeling that positivity. They were right, of course, that something was not right with the boy, but what?

He had felt a cry of pain, of help, in that mental encounter with Chiro mere minutes ago, and yet his 'real-life' actions spoke of him being in complete control. It was a puzzle, that was for sure.

" _Two Formless mergings in the park!_ " Gibson pointed out.

The Super Robot walked through the streets of Shuggazoom, heading to meet the merged Formless grouping in the park. There was two large monsters, one with a scythe and the other with a mace. It would have been so much easier if Jinmay was in her larger robotic form, but she was piloting the Torso Tank as the auto-crew was not yet fully operational. If only they had had a few more days, the monkeys would be taking the Super Robot out in search of the Citadel, leaving Jinmay to protect the city on her own as she was more than capable now.

" _This is stupid! I should be out there fighting, too_!" she complained as the Super Robot took a heavy beating from the difficult foes. In another sector of the city, another large Formless monster had begun destroying the city.

" _Relax, girly! We can handle this!_ " Sprx grunted, knowing they were in trouble, which was ridiculous as the invasion had only just started.

" _Speak for yourself, Sprx_ ," Gibson complained as he aimed a punch at the monster with the mace.

" _If only the auto-crew was working!_ " Jinmay responded. " _What if we did the_ Lasatron Fury?"

"That could work, but the amount of energy it would cost us while there are still other Formless masses in the vicinity is not worth it," Antauri cautioned, analyzing the situation with a worried expression. "Otto, can we not attempt using the auto-crew on just the Torso Tank?"

" _That is the only one that's been working in the tests so far, so I think we can_!" the green monkey responded.

"Then that's what we shall do. Jinmay, take care of the monster in the other section of the city!" Antauri ordered.

Jinmay nodded and unbuckled, letting herself be sucked back up the orange tube until she was at the opening in the Super Robot's neck onto its shoulder and took off flying in the direction of the other sector.

Otto activated the auto-crew for the main body, relieved when it started working. " _Antauri, you're in command of it_ ," he stated, " _in case you need to use weapons_."

"Affirmative, Otto!" the black monkey responded, using the Antenna Ray on the scythe monster. While his main focus was on the monsters, he began wondering why Chiro had not yet attacked. Why he stood at the highest point, watching the Formless invaders with Mandarin and the other monsterous monkey-beast. Was he waiting until the Super Robot was defeated so he could face them on the ground?

" _Antauri, is she going to be okay_?" Nova asked from her position at Foot Crusher Cruiser Six.

Antauri looked at the monitor where her face appeared. "She will be fine. We have trained her well." Nonetheless, he kept her image on a spare monitor. "Focus on the battle at hand, Team."

" _Roger!_ " came the chorus as the battle picked up.

The Super Robot continued to take a beating as it was matched by the twin monsters. Attack after attack the Team sent at them, but the regenerative powers were terribly powerful.

" _Argh! Systems are starting to fail, Antauri!_ " Otto reported.

" _We're losing power! We need to use the_ Lasatron _before we have no more power!_ " Sprx cried, his section sparking up a storm.

Antauri nodded and activated the largest weapon the Super Robot possessed, where its entire front torso became one big, blue laser beam that immediately laid waste to the first monster before the power to the device failed and the laser went out.

Antauri groaned. "Prepare to disengage!"

" _We do that and we won't be able to maschinder again, Antauri!_ " Gibson argued.

" _Shut it, Gibson. Antauri's onto something!_ " Nova responded, activating her button to disengage her tank from the rest of the robot. Feeling things beginning to shift, she knew the others had done the same.

Antauri flew his Brain Scrambler through the air, firing upon the monster with the Fist Rockets, Foot Cruisers, and the auto-crewed Torso Tank. With all the different weapons firing at different spots, they were able to finally take down the monster with a mighty explosion of combined force.

"Status reports, team!" Antauri ordered, going through his own energy reserves as the Brain Scrambler landed.

" _We're in trouble, Antauri,_ " Otto began. " _Power is dead to the Super Robot. We can't machinder, we can't do nothing! We're dead in the water!_ "

"Do not give up hope. Jinmay is fighting the other giant. Let's go and take care of the streets!" Antauri spoke up. Hearing their confirmations, he exited his vehicle and looked at the damage to it. How had the Formless become so powerful? It was if they were powered by something other than Skeleton King's influence. Could it possibly be Chiro's? Was what he had seen in their link true? Had the boy been lost to Skeleton King?

Clenching his fist, the black monkey growled a bit. If it was true, then they had waited too long to act. He needed to try to contact him, seek him out, but knew that the Team needed him against the horde. There was no time for him to venture off in his mind. Besides, if they ended up going up against Chiro, Mandarin, and CG-5, they'd all need to work together!

Glancing to his sides, he saw that the Team was beside him. "Split up. Nova, Otto, take the north side of the city. Seek out the horde and destroy them. Gibson, Sprx, the south. I am going to aid Jinmay, as she has finished that other merging. Disperse!"

With nods of affirmatives, the group split up to hunt down the threats and deal with them the best they could.

Jinmay, having shrunk down to her usual size, groaned at the exertion. Her charcoal metaling gleamed in some parks, but was oozed in others. "I don't know how Chiro did all this," she muttered, looking at the oncoming horde. She knew she had to stop them before they merged again. She ran full throttle towards them, throwing punches and launching her own tiny rockets, the last she had, but taking out quite a few and stopping the merging.

The city laid to waste around her, the sky filled with thick smoke, but still she fought. She could hear explosions in the distance and glanced away for just a moment to see the mergings that the Hyperforce had been attacking exploded.

A yelp left her throat as she was suddenly kicked down. She rolled out of the way, avoiding the blasts aimed at her by the Formless minions. She raised an arm in defense, but before she could do anything, Antauri suddenly appeared before her, taking out almost ten of the horde and effectively ending that particular one, with a _Claw Disruptor_.

Seeing that there was peace in their sector, Antauri bounded over to her. "Are you all right?" he questioned, helping her up.

"Thanks, Antauri," she responded, accepting the help up. "I let myself get caught off guard." She groaned and looked around, trying to find more of the vile creatures, but instead found none, much to her relief. "Where are the others?"

"To the north and south of the city, taking on their own hordes. The Super Robot is not operational at the moment, so we've split up. How are you on weapons? Are your eyebeams operational?" he asked, getting ready to check in with the others.

She nodded. "I've kept them as the last resort. I'm out of pretty much everything else," she answered truthfully.

"Then it will be hand to hand combat for now. This is what we've trained you for." He smiled at her and started his jetpack. "Let's go."

"Following you, Antauri. Let's get 'em!"

He nodded and led the youngest member to the east side of town, where things were quieter. "Go through the buildings and make sure that there are no stragglers. Get everyone down to the shelters immediately!" He knew that was what she would be best at without her weapons, and since there were still Formless, she'd be more than enough to take them on.

"If I find any, I will." She then took on a thoughtful look. "What if I find that one guy who loves that stuffed penguin and the penguin's not around? He's never left without him."

"Tell him it's either the penguin or his life. That should clear things up, I would think. Do not go back for the penguin."

"Roger that, Antauri." Jinmay affirmed as she zoomed off to her assigned duties.

Once he was sure she was safe, he took off, heading to the west and the front lines. He was going to put an end to this, one way or another. If it came down to battling Chiro, he would. If the only way to stop him was to kill him, then...

The black monkey took a deep breath as he set down in front of the bridge, the lone protector of the main entrance to the city. He could feel the Negative Energy with a pain-filled pulse, and braced himself for the oncoming swarm, a growl in his throat as he stared down the sea of black and white.

"You will not enter this city!" he screeched, his arms becoming full ghost-form with a glowing teal. He was ready and willing to lay down his life for the citizens of his planet. His homeworld.

His eyes drifted up to one of the pillars of the great bridge, where Chiro stood staring down at him with purple eyes, his two companion monkeys on either side of him. He could see the scars on the teen's face, and he knew that he had caused the injury that could forever scar him. Why had it not healed? Was it because of where he had been held? It must have been, yes. There was no other reason. Chiro had always been a fast healer, recovering in just a day or two, sometimes hours, even with a broken bone.

The Negative Energy of the Citadel of Bone had affected the child in adverse ways, tainting and corrupting him. The prolonged exposure to such negativity would corrupt anyone.

If only they had started their search that much sooner!

Antauri refocused himself on the horde, knowing that there was no use in wishful thinking. Things would play out as they were meant to; yet he would challenge fate by trying to save Chiro from what had been dealt him, even if it killed him.

As the horde finally reached him, none using their laser weapons, Antauri was ready to fight. His energy was a bit depleted, but he had enough to take on them! Especially when the others arrived, as he sensed they were about to.

"Starting the party without us?" Sprx asked, laughing as he touched down. "We finished our areas easily, and girly is cleaning up any spares. She told us you came out here on your own."

"Yeah, Antauri! You know the rules! No one fights alone unless they're a robot girl!" Nova grinned, her fists at the ready for battling the fresh wave of Formless.

Otto nodded. "Let's slice 'em and dice 'em!" He readied his saws, excitement in his eyes.

"You can't actually slice and dice Formless, Otto," Gibson corrected, drills ready and set for his attacks.

"You know what he means, Dr. Brainstrain!" Sprx teased, opening his magnets. "Now then, let's clean up this mess so we can get Chiro!"

"Right!" the others agreed.

Antauri smiled, proud to have them at his side. "Team, this could very well be our final battle, so make every effort to protect the city and yourselves! It has been an honor battling with you."

"Aw, Antauri, don't be getting all sentimental on us!" Nova teased, but proud of his words. "This won't be our last battle, and we will all come out of this!"

"Yes," Antauri smiled, glancing up at Chiro again. "We _all_ will."

The others glanced up at the black and orange clothed boy, mixtures of emotions running through their minds.

Nova stared at Chiro, his scars, and the changed look in his eyes. Cold and neutral, like Mandarin's had become. Why was this happening to him? If he was the Chosen One, then why had he been corrupted? What must they have put him through to make this change possible?

She wasn't sure, but was determined to find out.

Her gaze drifted to Mandarin, and rage began to boil her blood. He and Skeleton King were responsible for this. They had lost their leader before, but never again. They would get Chiro back and make things right!

With a roar and a cry of _Boom Boom Wake Up!_ , Nova was taking out at least nine white and black ooze people, a new personal best, with her favorite move.

" _Spin Shocker!_ " Gibson cried, letting loose an energy blast of different lasers from his drills. Ten Formless went down in the blast, but there were still more to come. When would this end? They had not seen an invasion like this in many, many years! Not since the last time they had put Skeleton King into hibernation and they, themselves, had collapsed from the efforts.

That battle had reigned on for days, and if they hadn't been able to pull their energy together, they would have lost and Shuggazoom fallen. Now it appeared that history would repeat itself – should they survive. With Chiro now on Skeleton King's side, a boy born of pure energy, the bone lord was practically unstoppable.

The worst part, however, was that Chiro, like Mandarin, knew their strategies and battle moves. How would this be implemented once the Formless were gone? Who would be the victor of this battle? The playing field was far from even, but when had that ever stopped them before?

Sprx-77 launched a _Magno-ball Blazer_ , trapping several of their larger enemies into a ball of magnetic energy that tore them apart, causing it to rain ooze. He sent another move, _Magna-Tingler Blast_ , that sent red waves of magnetic energy, destroying quite a few of their enemies.

This was almost too easy, it seemed, as if the horde was getting easier to fight. Why would that be? Sprx wasn't sure, but he wasn't pleased about it, either. If this was a real battle, then why were things becoming so... easy?

He allowed himself to drift for a moment, focusing on the three watching the battle from up high. They were studying their moves and analyzing the battle! They would wait until they were at their weakest, having expended their energy, and then come in and fight!

' _What on Shuggazoom, kid! This isn't the kind of thing you'd do! Even if you'd wear us out and then take us on at our weakest! That's a coward's move, and you are no coward. Now Mandarin... He is a coward, or at least he's become one. Using others to get to us. That's not like you. You're a straightforward kind of guy, and ya believe in a fair fight. That's what I like about you. You're honest and true._ ' Sprx frowned and launched another attack. ' _As for that other monkey thingy with ya... I'm not too sure about that. If that was supposed to be the one called Cogs or something, she sure don't look like one of us anymore. Like she was... mutated or something._

 _'Wait, that's it! Her mutation reminds me of that Circus of Ooze, one of our earlier battles! The old bonebag mutated her with his ooze! Did he do that to you, too, Chiro?_ ' Sprx glanced at Gibson. "Hey, can you do a scan on the kid quick? I have a theory."

Gibson glanced at him, listening to his explanation and nodding. "Yes, I believe I can. Cover for me, Sprx."

"Gotcha!" Sprx immediately took the blue monkey's place, keeping an eye on any that might attack him as Gibson flew up into the sky, shifting his binoculars over his eyes from his helmet, and patched into his handheld scanner. He did a slow look-over of the three figures, analyzing every detail, before touching back down on the ground.

"Gibson, look out!" Sprx managed to get out before a ball of Formless energy hit the blue monkey and sent him flying.

Meanwhile, Otto didn't seem to feel what the others were as he playfully took out his own Formless. In his mind, he was already planning all the things he had planned for when they got Chiro back. He'd show him all his new inventions, and they'd play video games together, and even go to the arcade!

He'd cook him fun food, too! Oh, Otto was very excited to have his friend back, without even realizing that no, Chiro was not back. Not yet. That didn't down his spirits. He was a positive guy to begin with, with nothing ever seeming to bring him down. It was one thing that everyone could agree on liking about him.

Yes, Otto was very excited, and wouldn't let his depleting energy bring him down, either, as he hummed a little tune and excitedly yelled to Chiro what they were going to do once Chiro came back.

Antauri glanced at the green monkey, amused at his antics. "Sprx, is Gibson all right?" he asked, returning his attention to the other two males of the team.

"He'll be fine, but his scanner's busted. Direct shot. They were aiming for it!" Sprx responded, helping Gibson up.

"Yes, it seems that they do not want me scanning Chiro," Gibson responded after thanking Sprx for his help.

"Which means they have something to hide!" Nova called out, throwing another punch out.

"So it would appear," Antauri replied. "Which may mean they are controlling him somehow. But with what? What could be so powerful that it's seemingly corrupted him?"

"Well, that ooze, for one thing. Look at the purple monstrosity beside him," Sprx pointed out. "She's been mutated by that stuff. It's obvious. They probably did the same thing to the kid!"

"Uh, guys, focus! I shouldn't be the only one fighting here!" Nova complained. "Even Otto's taking out more than you all!"

The three looked over at her and Otto before jumping back into the fray of the seemingly never-ending threat.

Five minutes passed. Ten. Twenty. Forty. And hour. Two. Three. Exhaustion was laying waste to the team. Finally, the horde stopped their oncoming attack and stood there on the bridge, waiting for further orders.

Antauri took the time to look over his team. He knew they were running out of time and energy. This must be what Chiro and Mandarin wanted. It had to be, as they had just jumped down onto the bridge and walked through the line of their invasion force.

Nova was on her paws and knees, breathing heavily like the others. She was the most physical of the monkeys, as she used her fists for combat, where the others were more long-range. The only one who came close to her in physical exertion was Antauri. She breathed slowly, trying to gather her strength. Energy was being depleted, leaving her running on reserves.

Gibson was also having trouble with the exertion, his eyes unfocusing and refocusing from the loss of energy and heavy battling. It had been many, many years since he had had to stay this long in battle. It was surprising that any of them were still able to move. "We're in trouble," he muttered.

"No kidding, Brainstrain," Sprx commented, keeping his eyes closed due to his dizziness. "We're dead in the water."

"Yeah, but Chiro's not going to hurt us," Otto responded, trying to get his saws to respond. "Chiro would never hurt us."

Antauri looked at Otto worriedly. He was right, of course; _their_ Chiro would never hurt them. But this was a Chiro that had been corrupted with Negative Energy and perhaps something else. There was no telling what might happen when they met in a few moments. If they were attacked, the Team did not have the energy to defend themselves.

He turned his gaze towards the three approaching figures and struggled to his feet, barely managing to keep himself upright. Like the others, he, too, was exhausted. "Chiro," he spoke, staring right at the boy. "I don't know what they've done to you, but I promise we will fix it."

"You've promised a lot of things, Antauri, but you haven't done any of them," Chiro responded, voice cold and cruel. "You promised to come find me, and instead you remain here, training my replacement!"

"Replacement? Jinmay! No, Chiro, you don't understand! That's not what we were doing!"

"It's too late! You never cared about me! None of you!"

Nova released a screech of alarm. "That's not true! We love you, Chiro!"

"The old bonebag's manipulating you, kid!" Sprx argued, looking up at him. "This isn't you talking!"

"Perhaps it is," Gibson murmured. "It's his innermost thoughts. Those that he has hidden from us. The Negative Energy is bringing them to the front. Breaking his mask, one might say."

"But Chiro doesn't feel like that! He likes us!" Otto retorted, still holding onto his beliefs.

"Oh, I like you all right, or I did, but then I began to realize. What's good in having friends if you can't do anything together that requires going out in public? Just hanging out in the arcade, or getting burgers! I've been alone since the day I was born, and I'm still alone," Chiro responded, eyes flashing, the first show of emotion on his face. "Always alone."

Mandarin eyed him warily. "CG-5, release the Aoiaus on our brothers and bring them under our control. They can no longer fight."

The lilac monstrosity complied, releasing the multi-colored bugs towards their designated targets, too fast for the weakened team to react to. The bugs attached themselves much like they had to Cogs, feeding Negative Energy into the Team and bringing them down.

One by one they fell, unable to spare the energy outwardly during their internal battles.

"No, Chiro..." Antauri whispered, trying to reach out to him. "This isn't you..." Briefly, he felt that same pulse, that soft cry for help. Then darkness consumed him.

* * *

 **Hi! Thanks for reading my first SRMT story! I originally wrote this seven years ago and decided to rewrite it since I had never published it. So many things changed and my ideas grew. I hope you've enjoyed reading! Please leave a review!**

 **I'm planning on Saturday weekly uploads. :)**


	8. Part Seven - Struggle

**Hi, there! I've brought in a new chapter! Thanks to those who favorited and the two people who reviewed. I hope that you enjoy this next chapter! :) I've been working on all my stories, including a Dragon Booster story called "Winds of Change", so if you're a fan of my work and of that show, go check it out!**

 **This story is drawing to a close with only a couple more chapters to go, and then we move onto the next! I thank those who have reviewed, and all those who have viewed, for taking this journey with me!**

* * *

 **.~*Part Seven – Struggle*~.**

"How? How did you manage to turn him, you coot?!" Sprx demanded to know from the webbing in which he was trapped, the red bug still stuck on his head. He struggled a bit before turning his gaze on Nova, who was being put in place by Chiro, much like the others.

Mandarin chuckled. "Oh, it was fairly easy, actually, once the Aoiaus larva was introduced. He has become our slave, tainted with the Negative Energy of the Citadel."

"Aoiaus?" Gibson looked at the bugs on their heads, eyes widening. "But that bug only attacks robots! And it's only found on one planet on the other side of the galaxy!"

"Ah, now you know why we were absent for so long. Yes, the mature Aoiaus attacks robots and cyborgs like ourselves, feeding on positive energy and converting it to negative. The larva, however, dig into the brain of lower life forms, such as humans, and reside there, growing slowing, but making the individual easy to control to those who control the queen Aoiaus, which we do.

"The boy knows what he is doing, but cannot control himself. He is a slave to the larva." Mandarin cackled. "Oh, you should have heard his screams as the larvae crawled in through his ears. Yes, we introduced two of them. He fought against them until they took root. His days before the larva were also filled with great pain." He cackled at the angry screeches his reveal had made.

"I did not want to have to use the larva on him, but he would not comply, bringing his punishments upon himself. First, we tried mental manipulation, preying on his feelings. When that failed, we began the physical aspect, imprisoning him here in this very cell, trapped like you all are. Beaten, injured... Even injuries caused by all of you within that dream my lord created.

"Yet, he would not fall. He believed in you, that you were coming, until we made it to the other side of the galaxy and to the planet. I picked the creatures myself, cultivating what he would go through." Mandarin looked at each of their horrified and angry faces, a grin crossing his. He watched as Chiro began attaching Antauri to the webbing. "Does it hurt you, brother, to know that you have lost the boy? That you cannot get him back?"

Antauri had tuned out Mandarin upon hearing what Chiro had been put through. Instead, he stared into Chiro's eyes, trying to see within him. Their Chiro _was_ still in there, lost and unable to break free without help. He sent out a mental hook to him, hoping to catch the boy. To his relief, he felt a small tug and whispers. Scream? What did Chiro mean by 'scream'?

Mandarin's eyes narrowed, watching this interaction. No! If Antauri was able to make a connection with the boy, it'd only be a matter of time before he found out the weakness! "Enough, boy. Leave us. Go train with Cogs."

Chiro snapped back to attention and looked a Mandarin. With a nod, he left.

Antauri turned a scowl at the orange monkey. "It's not too late for you to redeem yourself, Mandarin. Let the boy go. Your fight is with us, not him."

"Ah, while this is true, the boy does not belong to me, but Skeleton King. You will come to see that he is our lord and leader." Mandarin smiled again. "You will not rescue the boy. He is lost to us. The Ooze made sure of that."

"Ooze?" Otto questioned, confused.

Sprx and Nova were seeing red as they realized that Sprx's theory was accurate. "You oozed him?!" Sprx shouted, furious. He hadn't wanted his idea to be true. "You slimy, no good, rotten son of a-"

"Tut, tut," Mandarin interrupted. "Such foul language. Behave yourself or your transformation will be that much worse. Now then, I'll leave you be for a while, let you get acclimated to your surroundings." He cackled. "I will return soon, my brothers, and you shall feel the same agony of the boy and his guardian!" He hovered out of the dungeon and past the guards, soon disappearing from sight.

Otto was the first to speak, his gaze lowered to the ground. "They really hurt him, didn't they?"

"I'm afraid so," Gibson murmured. "We all know that Skeleton King would stop at nothing to harm the boy and destroy us. We should have known he wouldn't be above physical and mental torture. Mind manipulation. Using whatever means he had available to him."

"Gibson is correct. We must figure out a way to help the boy without making things worse," Antauri responded, looking at them all. "He's still in there. I made a connection, however weak, and he is in pain. Crying for help. Trapped and unable to get free. Held prisoner within his own body."

"That's awful," Otto deadpanned.

"Oh, thanks for that, Captain Obvious," Sprx sneered. "As if we weren't already aware of just how awful it is!"

"Sprx, shut up!" Nova spat, glaring at him. "There's no need for you to be a jerkface!"

"I'm just stating that we already knew what Otto was thinking!" the red monkey retorted, annoyed at her. "He doesn't need to state it out loud, Nova!"

"Why can't he?! He can say whatever he darn well pleases!"

Gibson frowned. "Stop it, both of you! The negatively charged energy is already affecting you! If you keep fighting, you will fall prey to its power!"

"Gibson is right, Team! Fight your anger and hostilities. Only if we keep our hopes up do we stand a chance of escape!" Antauri ordered, glaring at his teammates. "Put aside your petty differences!"

"Sorry, Antauri," the others chorused, realizing he was right. They could feel the power of the Citadel starting to creep into their very souls, though they had only been there a short time.

"Perhaps if we combine our energies, we can reach the boy before Mandarin's return. Focus your energies, Team. We must reach him." Antauri closed his eyes and focused, hearing the hum as the others did the same, their energies combining. As one, the group ventured into the void to seek out their lost leader.

 _"Wow, it's so dark in here!" Otto commented, glancing around at the blackness._

 _"And cold!" Nova shivered, holding her arms and wrapping her tail around herself. "What is this place, Antauri?"_

 _"The void. A place where the wielders of the Power Primate can converge and communicate, and where you go when you are suspended between life and death," the wise monkey replied, seeking out the soul of the boy they loved. "As you can see, it is fairly empty."_

 _"Oh, pleasant. So, that means that Mandarin is here, too!" Sprx gruffed. "And since it's empty, it'll be easier for him to find us!"_

 _"Which means we must be quiet and not draw attention to ourselves," Gibson responded. "Keep the chatter down and energies low and we should be fine."_

 _Nova nodded in agreement and hushed the others. "Antauri? Do you sense him?"_

 _"Yes. Faintly, but I do. Follow me. Hold onto tails." The black monkey began walking through the darkness, using the Power Primate to guide him through. Sprx grabbed his tail, followed by Gibson grabbing Sprx's tail, and so on and so forth. They formed a chain in the darkness, none able to see the others._

 _Suddenly, Nova paused. "Wait, you guys. What's that?" She tugged on Otto's tail, telling them all to hold up as she walked towards a faint green glow. It felt... familiar. Not Chiro familiar, but something she had not felt in a long time._

 _As she drew closer, the glow took the shape of a purple monkey much like themselves. She sat with her knees up to her torso and head bowed, soft sobs echoing off of her._

 _Nova searched her memory for a moment. "Cogs?" Yes, that had to be it! That was the seventh monkey mentioned in the Alchemist's video logs! Chiro's guardian monkey! "Cogs, is that you?"_

 _The figure stiffed and slowly raised her head, looking at her counterpart with her emerald eyes. She studied her for a moment, tracing her up and down, before speaking. "You are... Nova? I barely remember you, yet you are here. Another cruel trick of the Aoiaus."_

 _"Aoiaus?" Nova's eyes widened as she thought back to the battle mere hours before. The mutated monkey had had one of the bugs on her helmet! She, like Chiro, was being controlled! "You've got that darn bug, too?"_

 _Cogs nodded. "I can't get free... I can't get to Chiro," she whispered, trying to stand. "It hurts so much!"_

 _The warrior knelt down, offering a cyberpaw to the lilac monkey. "We're trying to reach Chiro, too." She smiled a friendly smile at her fellow female simian. "Ya know, seeing you with Mandarin and Skeleton King, we thought you were evil."_

 _Cogs screeched in anger at that and ignored Nova's gesture. "I'm not evil! I'm Chiro's guardian! That's what I was designed for! To protect the boy!"_

 _"Swell job you've done," Sprx muttered._

 _"Sprx!" Nova growled. "Don't be a jerkface!"_

 _He huffed and crossed his arms. "Well, the kid grew up alone! Some guardian she was!"_

 _Cogs put a paw out, stopping Nova before she could pummel the red monkey. "He's right. The only reason I was not there was because I was not awakened when he was found. I was left to rot in my pod for many years until Mandarin found me. Not a day goes by when I wish things had been different. The Alchemist and Mandarin entrusted me with this great responsibility, and I failed!"_

 _"Mandarin did?" Otto blinked, tilting his head._

 _"Yes, Mandarin. He loved the boy and wanted him protected. He had a love for life... Mandarin saved my life," she explained. "He saved me when the Alchemist gave up. Mandarin never gave up on me." There was something laced within her voice, something soft and quiet. A whisper of love._

 _The others glanced at each other worriedly._

 _"You do know that Mandarin turned evil, right?" Nova asked softly._

 _"I knew that when I saw how he treated the boy he used to love. Whom we all loved. We all used to play with him, taking turns caring for him. Unlike the Alchemist or his brother, Chiro could understand us. The Alchemist always said he was special. It took me so long to remember. I've been confused for many months since I was reawakened by Mandarin. They told me that the people of Shuggazoom had forcibly separated me from my boy. That they forced the Alchemist to change. That they were the reason Chiro's father fell in battle," Cogs explained, image fizzling slightly._

 _"But none of that is true!" Gibson argued. "The Alchemist was touched by a Dark One and his very soul corrupted into the Skeleton King. As for Clayton Carrington, no one knows what happened to him other than he and the Dark One that had been unleashed vanished. He's assumed dead."_

 _"I know that now. It took me a while, but I began to remember Chiro's actual father and how much he loved him. Looked just like him, handsome as can be. I also know how Skeleton King tried to manipulate Chiro into believing he was his father instead of uncle. It..." She shook slightly. "If I hadn't told Chiro the truth, his transformation would have been less painful, and I wouldn't be trapped like him, unable to break free. I-I-I'd have been able to help him!"_

 _"It is not your fault. By telling him the truth, you saved him from more internal conflict. Now he only suffers from the larvae within his head," Antauri spoke. This was good news. If Chiro knew the truth about his past, at least his 'parentage', it would be that much easier to free him from Skeleton King's grip. "You have helped us greatly in our struggle."_

 _Cogs stared at the black monkey with a frown. "You talk of struggle, but you have no idea what it's been like these past months. What he's been through." She sighed. "I have two questions for you before you leave, as I can sense you are anxious to do so. My first – why did you replace him?"_

 _"Replace?" Antauri frowned. "How do either of you know about that?"_

 _"Skeleton King brought in TV Monster and showed us the images taken by the citizens of Shuggazoom who worship him." She glared. "Those images broke him. Made him lose his fight. He believes himself easy to replace. That none of you actually cared. That he would never have any family ever." She stared into each of their eyes, as if daring them to protest, deny her accusation._

 _They remained silent, looking at each other guiltily. It was easy to see how Chiro would appear to have been replaced if the full story hadn't been known._

 _"Now, as for my second question," she began, still staring and refusing to let them speak, "is what took you all so long? Did you not realize that time was of the essence? What could have been so darn important to just leave him in Skeleton King's custody? Training his replacement? My thoughts were that you were training someone to take your place when you sought us out. I'm still furious about how long you took, though._

 _"Do you know how many cuts, burns, and bruises I took care of? Of course you don't. The tears I had to wipe. The taunts targeting him... Witness as Mandarin dug into his mind, pulling out horrific memories of his childhood. Forcing him to relive his abusive past. The things I've heard him cry about as they tried to change him... and yet, he didn't. He still had you until that moment that he saw you replaced him. At that moment, his world shattered."_

 _Antauri sighed. "I'm afraid things are not as they appear. Yes, we brought Jinmay into the Hyperforce to help her control her own robotic powers. No, she was not meant to replace Chiro, but to stay behind, as you've said, to protect the planet while we left. Training took longer than we thought it would, and then we could not find the Citadel, try as we might. I could not find Chiro, either, here in the void. He was too far out of reach. I cannot begin to tell you how much I regret things."_

 _His gaze lowered, his thoughts filled with agony. "Cogs, I thank you for what you have done for the boy. For our Chiro. I am sorry for what has happened to you, CG-5, while you have been here. Like Chiro, you have been manipulated." He paused, feeling a tug, and turned his head._

 _Cogs turned her head as well. "I sense him, too. I may only have a little bit of the Power Primate, granted to me by him, but I have enough to put up a shield of energy." She smiled faintly. "You already know this, though, Antauri, as it was I that blocked him from you, back when I believed Skeleton King's words."_

 _The black monkey turned back to her, surprised. "So, it was you... I knew I had sensed no malice."_

 _"Enough about me. You need to reach Chiro before Mandarin returns to your cell. You have little time left."_

 _"What about you?" Otto and Nova asked._

 _"I cannot travel with you. I haven't the strength. But I can distract Mandarin for you, for he seeks you here. He knows you have ventured into the void." She could feel his presence clearly. "Go now or not at all. Take care of my Chiro, please. Be his guardians where I could not." Her image flickered. "He loves you all, so do your best to not let him down again." She frowned. "Antauri, be swift. The longer you stay here, the nearer his death is. Skeleton King plans on using him as a sacrifice to rise his Master!"_

 _Before the others could react, she vanished, and an angry screech was heard in the distance that sounded very much like Mandarin._

 _"Quickly, Monkey Team!" Antauri ordered, beginning the hunt for Chiro once more. His mind was reeling. Sacrifice to rise Skeleton King's Master? Who was that?! Was it because of Chiro being born of the Power Primate? Pure energy being corrupted, a perfect weapon to be used to wake something very evil. They had to hurry._

 _Sprx glanced at Nova. "She was supposed to be you or something?"_

 _"According to the Alchemist's journals, yeah. But she was a failed experiment because she was so young, so he fully matured us," Nova responded sadly. "She is our elder, yet she is no warrior."_

 _"Who would have thought Mandarin had it in him to save her," Sprx replied, looking surprised. "Could you hear the way she spoke of him?"_

 _"Despite what he's done, she clearly has feelings for him," Gibson analyzed. "She can see right through him, knows he's gone bad, and yet..."_

 _"It's called unconditional love," Antauri responded. "It would also appear that she is the only one of us who still has her full memories and did not have them erased. She knows more of who he was before he became our leader. Perhaps she still holds onto the hope that she can bring him back to who he was. She sees him as a lost soul, one she is determined to save." It was a terrible fate for the lilac female, to long for someone so lost, but perhaps she could be the one to save the orange monkey, not that he could ever return to the Hyperforce._

 _Otto frowned. "Well, maybe she could..."_

 _"Yeah, right. Mandarin doesn't know what love even is," Sprx spat._

 _"He used to," Nova reminded. "Before he changed."_

 _"That was a long, long, LONG time ago," Sprx argued. "Enough about him. We're here for Chiro, not him."_

 _Antauri nodded, following the pulls and soft tugs, smiling as they became stronger the closer they came. Finally, the glow of green appeared, but to all of their surprise, when the glow took shape, it formed only a brightly pulsing orb._

 _Sprx looked puzzled. "That's the kid?!"_

 _"The journals said he was born of the Power Primate and merely took human shape," Gibson remembered. "So yes, this is his true self."_

 _"The kid's a freakin' ball!" the red monkey retorted. "I could play catch with him!"_

 _"No, wait! Look!" Nova cried, pointing._

 _The orb began to shift, taking the shape of what looked like a boy-sized black monkey with orange markings, and then into Chiro's normal form of a human boy with ebony hair and beautiful blue eyes. He was only visible from the waist up, his clothes missing._

 _"Chiro!" Otto cheered, running and leaping at him, only to phase right through. "Oof! Ow, Chiro!"_

 _Sprx laughed at him. "You nut, that isn't his physical body." He went to help him out._

 _Chiro stared at them all, expression blank, like an unused canvas. His blue eyes shifted to purple and back to blue again. His silence was unnerving to the simians, as was his cold stare._

 _"Chiro? Can you hear us?" Antauri asked, reaching out to him. He could feel the boy's shifting energy, knowing it was due to what Skeleton King had done to him. Were they too late or was there still a chance? "It's Antauri. Please, Chiro, respond to us."_

 _Nova glanced at Antauri worriedly when Chiro did not respond. "Are we too late?"_

 _"I..."_

 _"Cold."_

 _The monkeys jumped in surprise at the voice, and they stared at the half-figure. "Chiro?" Gibson asked cautiously._

 _"So cold," the boy whispered, his eyes remaining wide open. "So dark."_

 _"Chiro, we're right here. We've found you at last," Antauri spoke up, touching at his arm carefully, yelping when a purple shock hit him._

 _"Antauri!" Gibson pulled his friend back. "Chiro, that was uncalled for!"_

 _"Calm yourself, Gibson," Antauri reassured. "I am fine. While this appears to be Chiro, I do not believe it is. This is merely a shadow. A façade built up after being abused so much. His last defense against the darkness that wishes to consume him. We... We cannot break into it."_

 _"What?! So we came here for no reason?!" Sprx yelled, furious. "The kid ain't even here?!"_

 _"That's what it means," Antauri replied. "Where he is, I do not know, but this shadow is not him. I believe it is blocking us from finding the real Chiro."_

 _"Or is it just a parlor trick, Antauri?"_

 _The Team spun around in shock to see Mandarin standing behind them, holding a chained figure. "The boy belongs to us! You are right about that one, though. It is just a shadow." He waved a paw, making the other figure vanish. "It did its job, though, and distracted you enough to allow me to capture you all!"_

 _"Monkey Team! You're here!" the chained Chiro cried out upon seeing them. He tried rushing to them, but a harsh tug to the chain around his neck sent him coughing harshly to the ground._

 _"Chiro!" the Team screeched, attempting to ready their weapons, but were stopped by Mandarin's warning._

 _"Oppose me, and the boy's end will be swift. He has served his purpose well. Allowed us to take you all as our own!" Mandarin sent a wave of Negative Energy through the chain, causing Chiro to scream and wrap his arms around his torso as he begged it to stop._

 _"You mutant! Leave him alone!" Nova yowled, clenching her regular fists._

 _"He's innocent! Let him go!" Sprx echoed, furious._

 _"Your fight is with us, not the boy!" Antauri growled warningly once more._

 _"Release him, Mandarin!" Gibson ordered._

 _"Yeah, let Chiro go! He's our friend!" Otto spoke angrily._

 _"Tut, tut. Seems that despite replacing him, you do still care. Interesting. Funny, I thought that was what you did to leaders. Replace them." He stopped the energy flow, watching as the trapped teen's essence whimpered and cried, throwing up. "Pathetic creature. At least your physical self is no longer so disgusting!"_

 _Chiro lifted his head. "The... only pathetic... creature here... is you, Mandarin," he hissed defiantly. "I told you... they were... coming for me... and to kick your... scrawny little butt."_

 _"Ah-ha, you do still have some spark in you! Excellent, my hairless monkey!" Mandarin grinned, ignoring the surprised and pleased looks of the Hyperforce that their Chiro still fought back. "Splendid, splendid! I most enjoy our conversations in here!"_

 _"Mandarin!" Antauri growled again, stepping forward but not taking his eyes off Chiro's fallen form._

 _"The boy is my slave, Antauri," the orange monkey cackled. "As for the rest of you..." He raised a paw to them and used his other to grip the boy by the hair, absorbing his energy and using it to banish the Monkey Team back to their bodies._

It felt like hours later when the Team awoke from the energy blast that had fried a few of their circuits. Groans were heard all around as they stirred from their slumbers, confused for a moment about where they were.

"Did that... really happen?" Sprx asked, wincing a bit from the strain his body was under due to how they were being held.

"I'm afraid so. Mandarin is hold Chiro's essence prisoner. With Mandarin wielding that much power, he could even overpower Skeleton King... or worse." Antauri looked at his trapped team solemnly.

"Cogs said he was to be a sacrifice for a Master or something," Nova said nervously. "That if we didn't hurry, we'd lose him forever. How are we supposed to help him when we're trapped here?!"

"Oh, you won't be able to help him, simple as that," Mandarin cackled as he wandered into the room, the dark Chiro behind him. "My slave is here to watch as I corrupt you as well, turn you into minions and the heralds of the Skeleton King!" He sent Chiro to a corner to watch as Mandarin put his paw into the flowing Ooze in the chamber. A light pink coloring took over the slimy blackness, flowing up to the ceiling, causing five tendrils to slither down and connect themselves to the Aoiaus bugs atop each of the monkeys' heads.

"Mandarin, release the boy! You have us now!" Antauri practically begged.

"Give up this mighty source of power? The creature born of power? I do not think so. Relax, Antauri, and give in to the power of the Dark Ones and Skeleton King!" He forced his arm in further, turning the ooze a darker pink, and sighed at the mighty screams of the Team as the bugs began to force the Negative Energy into their brains and circuits.

In his corner, Chiro stood solemnly physically, watching as his Team was tortured before him. Internally, he screamed with them, feeling their pain as his own. Their cries and screams filled him with such sorrow and agony that he could barely take it. How Chiro wished he could fight against his own body and stop Mandarin. If only his body was like glass that he could break and be free!

' _My Team... They're hurting because I wanted to have one day of normality,_ ' he realized. ' _I have to help them, but how? I can't get free! Or can I? With their pain, I also feel their energy..._ ' Within his own body, Chiro looked at himself and then at the dark version of himself that held him prisoner.

 _" **You can't escape me, Chiro. I'm always here, deep in your heart. I am your resentment, your hatred to all those who have done you wrong. Allow me to rule over our body and you shall never hurt again,** " the purple-eyed Chiro whispered._

 _Chiro shook his head. "No. You are not my true self. I am. I am Chiro of the Hyperforce, leader of the Monkey Team. Families fight or make mistakes, but they're still family. My family is in pain, and you will not stop me from breaking them free!"_

 _The Dark Chiro splintered slightly. " **No! They deserve this for what they did to you! Replaced you with your own girlfriend! Thought her better than you! You are easily replaceable! They don't actually care for you! Never have!** "_

 _"Yes, they do! I was a fool to give into you before. Cogs was right. They were training her to protect the city while they came to find me, just in case none of us returned, the city would still have a protector! That's the truth, and I won't let you blind me again!" Chiro argued back, staring into his splintering mirror image. "Antauri and the Team... they want me back!"_

 _" **Do they? Do they really? How can you be sure? They sure didn't fight for you in the void. Gave up without a fight.** "_

 _"Because they feared what Mandarin would do if they resisted!" the boy responded, glaring at his duplicate. "A true friend would give up everything if it meant protecting the other!"_

 _" **You're pitiful, holding onto a dream. Look at them! They aren't getting out of here and neither are you! You care about them, but do you care for anyone else? I don't see you trying to break free to rescue your precious Cogs!** "_

 _The teen faltered, surprised. "I... I can't reach her."_

 _" **You don't even try! She cries for you, sacrifices herself in the void to try to help you, and yet you remain here, helping no one!** "_

 _"That's..." He frowned, beginning to doubt himself, unaware of the splintering version returning to solid form. "Cogs and I... She's my guardian. She knows what she's doing."_

 _" **Ah, yes, take the easy route, boy. The easy explanation and take no account for your own actions! Everyone sacrifices their own happiness to protect you! You, who aren't even grateful for their efforts! You who would not lay down your own life for them! And now look! They're here, being tortured, and you just stand here, a pitiful excuse for the Chosen One. You can't even defeat yourself!** "_

 _Chiro's eyes weld up with tears. It was true. He couldn't even free himself from his own prison. How was he supposed to help them? Their pain, it hurt! Was he willing to lay down his life for them?_

 _"Chiro... do not give up, Chiro..."_

 _The boy whipped around in surprise, hearing Antauri's voice. "Antauri?!"_

 _"This is what a family does for one another."_

 _He looked in another direction. "Nova!"_

 _"Kid, no matter what happens, know that we love you."_

 _"Sprx!" Why couldn't he see anyone?_

 _"Wish I had gone to the arcade with you. You made it sound like so much fun."_

 _"Otto, you will! You will, I promise!" Beads of strength began to flow within him._

 _"A team makes sacrifices for each other. Each sacrifice makes us stronger."_

 _"Gibson, do you really have to analyze everything?" Chiro bit back a laugh at the memories of their words filled him, giving him the strength. He turned back to his mirrored self. He stepped towards him, determination in his eyes._

 _" **You think a few voices can change what you are? A coward? Do you really want to go back to that life of weakness? Being called a freak and labeled as weird? To a place with no friends or family? To a place where you will never, ever, be adopted! You'll be Chiro the orphan forever!** "_

 _"You're wrong!" Chiro argued, body beginning to glow green. "I have a family, I have friends! Maybe I can talk to Antauri or the others about them adopting me! I no longer fear the bullies that tormented me! I know that some battles are worth fighting, and they are not worth it! But this battle, right here and now, to fight for my friends, is what matters! You will go back to rest and leave me alone!" He tapped the mirror with a glowing finger, smiling as it shattered and dispersed, revealing a door beyond._

 _Stepping forward, he pushed it open and stepped into the light._

* * *

 **Hi! Thanks for reading my first SRMT story! I originally wrote this seven years ago and decided to rewrite it since I had never published it. So many things changed and my ideas grew. I hope you've enjoyed reading! Please leave a review!**

 **I'm planning on Wednesday/Saturday weekly uploads. :)**


	9. Part Eight - I'm Sorry

**Hi, there! I've brought in a new chapter! Thanks to those who favorited and the two people who reviewed. I hope that you enjoy this next chapter! :) I've been working on all my stories, including a Dragon Booster story called "Winds of Change", so if you're a fan of my work and of that show, go check it out!**

 **This story is drawing to a close with only a couple more chapters to go, and then we move onto the next! I thank those who have reviewed, and all those who have viewed, for taking this journey with me!**

* * *

 **.~*Part Eight – I'm Sorry*~.**

Mandarin was cackling, watching the Team suffer under his evil influence. Finally! Everything was coming together! He would be the leader of the team once more! Rule over Shuggazoom! With Chiro and his immense power under his control, he could even use him to defeat the Skeleton King once and for all! He could take over the very universe!

He was suddenly punched into the wall, cracking it and leaving a crater the shape of his body within it. "Wha...?" He lifted his head and turned to look at who had dared hit him. "Chiro?!"

The black-haired teen stood where Mandarin had, glowing green as the blackness of the Ooze slipped away, joining the pillar of Ooze, leaving his clothing back to the refreshed Hyperform of his super self. White clean clothing, black buttons, and his orange scarf. His mask, too, was clean and precise. His eyes had turned a full greenish-white as he viewed the scene before him.

The pain ebbing from the Team had them slowly opening their eyes and whispering his name.

Chiro looked at them and held out an orange-gloved hand, letting the Power Primate flow from his five fingers to them, healing their injuries and revitalizing them. Restoring their energy to the maximum amount. Melting the webs holding them trapped. The glow from around him vanished, as did his eyes return to normal. He stumbled a little, looking confused.

As one, the Team jumped down and surrounded him, Nova hugging him tightly and Chiro returning the affection with a smile on his face.

"I don't think you understand just how happy we are to see the real you!" she cried.

"I think I do," he whispered, holding her close, "because I'm just as happy at seeing you." He yanked the bug off her head and held his simian sister close.

Otto leapt onto Chiro, too, excited to have him back. "We thought we'd never see you again!" His bug was off, too, as were the others'.

"Same here. You have no idea," Chiro whispered, holding him close for a moment before letting out a cry of pain and dropping him and Nova for the chance to grip his head and collapse to his knees.

Mandarin's eyes widened in shock at this sudden development. How had the boy been able to break free of the Ooze's hold?! Was he really that strong? As soon as he had been able to, he had sent a controlling pulse to the larvae residing within the boy's brain. "You will stop disobeying me, boy!"

Growls echoed his words as the Team took formation in front of the teen, protecting him the best they could. Their weapons were free and ready to be used.

"Chiro, destroy the Hyperforce!" Mandarin ordered.

"Like he's going to do th-ahh!" Otto let out a screech as Chiro turned on him, giving him a hard punch to the back of the head. He went rolling forward before hitting a wall and groaning.

"Chiro!" Nova complained, turning to face him and just narrowly avoiding the same treatment Otto had received. "What are you doing?!"

Antauri leapt back, staring at his human in shock. He could see that Chiro's eyes had gone blank. "He got rid of the Ooze, but can't get the Aoiaus larvae to leave him!"

"Correct, Antauri. The boy is still under my control!" Mandarin cackled. "There is but one way to free him, and that'd be death at your hand, Antauri. Can you bring yourself to do it? Free him from his suffering?"

The black monkey growled at him. "I will not kill the boy!"

"Please... Antauri, I can't... I can't control my body... You have to use it!" Chiro begged, aiming a _Thunder Punch_ at Nova and sending her flying, while a kick to Sprx knocked him into Gibson, and another kick threw the pair towards the other two fallen primates.

"Use what?!" Antauri demanded, his heart racing at the pleading in his adopted son's voice.

" _Scream_! You have to use the _Scream_!"

Scream? That's what Chiro's essence had been saying before... Wait, he didn't mean the _Monkey Mind Scream_ , did he?! That could... it would... "Chiro, I cannot!"

"You have to!" the boy begged, readying an attack that Antauri dodged. "Please!"

"Chiro! Kill Antauri!" Mandarin ordered, grinning ear to ear.

"I'm sorry," Chiro whispered, throwing punch after punch towards the black monkey. "I'm sorry!"

The black monkey's heart ached for the boy and his needless suffering. He didn't want to harm Chiro, and the _Monkey Mind Scream_ never went well with humans. But perhaps since Chiro was not a full human, perhaps it would not do as much damage? Antauri was still learning to control the move, as it had never done permanent damage to his fellow monkeys, but when Chiro had joined the team and they had been training, Antauri had used the move on him and nearly killed him. If it hadn't been for Gibson's quick actions, they might have lost their young leader. It was a day he'd rather not relive.

Now, though, Gibson was out of commission and they were not on the Super Robot. They were on the Citadel of Bone, and if Chiro wasn't strong enough, he'd die, but he'd be free.

Hardening his gaze, Antauri braced himself. "Forgive me, Chiro. _Monkey Mi-_ " His fight was cut off as he and Chiro were yanked from the room up through the ooze and to Skeleton King's throne room, both landing with a "whump" that jolted their bodies.

Skeleton King's eyes narrowed, spotting the two. "So, you've freed yourself from my Ooze, boy," he snarled, glaring at them both. "And managed to free your pet, too."

Chiro groaned, struggling to get up. "Skeleton King..." he spat with venom in his voice.

Antauri got up and stood in front of Chiro protectively. "You will leave him be," he warned, ghost claws at the ready.

"Actually, you will leave him be," came a familiar, if very different, toned voice. The mutated form of CG-5 appeared, both of her 'weapons' draw, her neon green eyes burning with hatred and she leapt forwards with a snarl, but did not attack.

Skeleton King grinned. "Why don't you show him how you feel about him being near your ward, my dear?"

Antauri growled at warning. "Cogs, this isn't you! Fight him!" he cried, hoping to reach her as he remained in a protective stance in front of his boy. "I will fight you if I must!"

The bone lord slammed his staff to the ground. "Chiro, come here," the evil king ordered. "She won't listen to you; she's mine," he said to the second-in-command.

Chiro struggled against the larvae in his mind, but his body moved on its own. "Let me go, you old fart!" he growled, but still approached. "You've lost!"

"Chiro!" Antauri ran for him, knowing that in the state the boy was in, he wouldn't be able to fight back against Skeleton King.

Issuing a cry of challenge, the mutated monkey moved to intercept him. Swinging her spiked wrench and cutters, both tainted by the ooze and the bug, she screeched a battle cry. " _Cinch Pinch!_ " She brought her two arms together, forming a crab-like weapon with spikes.

Antauri yelped and flipped backwards out of the way, but not fast enough to dodge the spikes that scratched his chest. "Cogs! Enough! You are fighting for the enemy! You think you're protecting the boy, but you're not!" He put a paw against his chest, assessing the damage, and, finding himself still able to function, got ready to attack, forming his ghost paws.

She snarled and made another move, aiming her cutters for a limb. " _Cleave Cracker!_ " she yowled, using her razor-sharp cutters to attack him. Why wasn't he fighting her?! Inside, her true self screamed and tried to fight back, regain control of her body.

Skeleton King watched, amused. "You won't fight, Antauri? You would allow yourself to be beaten? Perhaps with some motivation?"

"I won't fight someone who has no control over their own body!" he screeched, dodging another attack with a flip. Hearing a cry of pain, he turned his head to find Chiro being choked by Skeleton King's power and thrown into the wall. "Leave him be!"

"Oh, no, Antauri. I will not until you fight good and proper," the bone lord cackled, enjoying every second of this. "Perhaps I'll even make him fight you as well!"

The black monkey's eyes narrowed at the threat, but as he thought about it, he realized that might actually be a good thing. He could use the _Scream_ and free Chiro and perhaps even Cogs! He'd just need them to be fighting in the same spot!

Hearing a thud and smelling blood, Antauri's eyes widened as he realized that Chiro was bleeding from his head, gushing the precious red liquid that kept him functioning. "Chiro!"

" _Simian Soul_!" Instead of the usual green, a nauseating black and purple, oozing with negativity, shield surrounded both herself and Chiro. Her eyes burned into Antauri with accusation, as if blaming him for Chiro's injuries instead of the one who had actually caused them.

Suddenly encased in the shield made up of malice and hatred, Chiro felt very sick. His body responding to it, he threw up and collapsed. "Cogs..." he whispered between heaves, begging her to free him. "Stop... please..."

Antauri made a running leap at them, clawing at the shield and trying to break through. "Chiro!"

 _'Chiro... I'm so sorry_ ,' a voice whispered in the black monkey's mind. ' _Antauri, help me... I beg of you._ '

CG-5 cackled, watching him try to break the shield. Sending a few more of her attacks, she launched another assault.

Antauri barely made it out of the way of her first attack, but her second sent him flying into the wall with a cracked helmet. Struggling to his feet, he again raced towards Chiro, trying to free him from what was making him horribly sick and clawing at it once more. He could hear Cogs' whispers, but wasn't sure how to help her. He could see that the bug was deeply engrained into her, so how could he free her? Would the _Scream_ work on her, too? He wasn't sure.

"Stop playing with him and finish it!" Skeleton King ordered, starting to get angry.

The mutated monkey's mouth slavering and her eyes crazed as she went berserk, charging forwards at full speed, surprisingly quick for a mutation.

The black monkey screeched as he was yanked away once more from Chiro, who fell to the ground in agony. "No!" Finally, things had to get serious. He had to get serious. With a growl, he kicked Cogs off of him and attacked. " _Claw Disruptor!_ " His paws moved faster than one could see as he hit her over and over again, attacking areas filled with energy, before finally gripping the bug, but unable to pull it off.

She screeched in agony and swiped blindly at him, cutting him a few times. "Get off of me!" CG-5 hissed, while her pure counterpart begged Antauri through the void, ' _Please! Don't pull! It hurts! It hurts so much!_ '

Antauri focused on her, trying to meld with her mind enough to get a warning out. ' _I can try to free you, Cogs, but you must drop the shield! You are killing the boy!_ '

 _'I'm trying to stop it!_ ' True to her word, the shield flickered slightly, but CG-5 refused to give up the fight.

Narrowing his eyes, Skeleton King snarled and began to rise to his feet. This was taking far too long. Where was Mandarin?!

 _'Help me... Then I can help you..._ '

 _'Line yourself near the boy._ ' Antauri frowned and jumped back from her, readying himself. He had to go full blast or he'd never penetrate the shield. With a deep breath and before Skeleton King could realize what he was about to do, he screamed. " _MONKEY MIND SCREAM!_ " Rings of harsh pure energy flowed from his mind through his mouth at the duo as soon as Cogs was aligned with the child, the energy throwing both of them back against the wall.

"No!" Skeleton King couldn't let this happen, he wasn't about to let some filthy primates win this battle.

There was an odd metallic screech, one like when a radio is badly tuned, as the bug was fried due to the attack. "Arrawrr!" With a loud snarl and a lot of cracking where the ooze had solidified, Cogs screeched out her wild card, energy ripping throughout the Citadel. " _SIMIAN SOUL!_ " Sending a fresh shield towards Chiro, she hoped she hadn't been too late in protecting him, but through the connection of the shield, she could see that she had not been quick enough.

Faltering slightly at the information, a growl rose in her throat and she clawed at her head, desperate to get the parasite that had poisoned and tormented her for so long finally off. The Ooze cracked and splintered off her.

Antauri fell to his knees, tired from using the attack at full blast, something he rarely did as usually quarter power was suffice. His head perked when he heard Chiro's echoing scream, the bugs in his head crawling out and dying. The child collapsed to the floor and didn't move, eyes sliding closed.

He raced to the child and past the other monkey, and stood over Chiro, looking at Skeleton King with defiance. "You've lost, Skeleton King!" he roared, his ghost claws at the ready. "Let us go in peace!"

"Never!" Skeleton King's voice began to rise, echoing throughout the bone ship. "My minions, hear me true. Your lord is in danger!" Satisfied that the call had gone out and that his army would soon be upon them, he leapt at the boy and monkey, swinging his staff left and right in an attempt at killing the black simian.

Antauri grabbed Chiro and jumped back, trying to keep him out of harm's way. It was fairly easy, given how little the boy now weighed due to neglect. He'd be needing very special treatment once they got free.

He wondered for a moment where the rest of his team were. Would they be there soon? He could faintly sense them, but not where they were. He couldn't be offense and defense at the same time!

Jumping back again, he moved Chiro out of the way once more, worried about his injuries. The child had already lost a lot of blood on top of the mental anguish the _Scream_ had inflicted upon his mind. If this battle was drawn out much longer, he would bleed out.

The black monkey also knew that his own injuries were severe and he was leaking fluids. Another, more horrifying thought filled him. Even if they defeated Skeleton King, how would they get out of here? The Super Robot was back on Shuggazoom in pieces!

Skeleton King had the monkey trapped in the corner, knowing that he would not dare attack if it left Chiro vulnerable. "You are mine," he cackled, raising his staff and bringing it down.

" _Magna-ball Blazer!_ " A blast of red magnetic energy suddenly surrounded the bone lord and yanked him away from the duo and back against his throne.

" _Lady Tomahawk!_ " A massive series of cracks bore through the bones of the room, and Skeleton King grabbed his chest, flinching from the pain it caused him.

" _Scritch-scratch Doom Thrower!_ " A shower of green sparks cascaded over the area, creating more splintering cracks.

" _Spin Shocker!_ " A series of different colored lasers in a tornado-like whirl attacked the skeletal lord, causing further pain to him.

Antauri breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing the rest of his Team arrive, all with their own injuries from battling their way there after taking on Mandarin, but all still alive. He jumped up to help them, letting loose another _Monkey Mind Scream_ at the same intensity as the previous one.

Skeleton King screamed in pain as his Citadel was torn apart. He stumbled to his feet, intent on killing them all, only to fall back as the wall was suddenly blown out.

The monkeys, not expecting this, all let out screeches as they were pulled out into space. Jetpacks were activated in an attempt to stop themselves, while Nova sped towards where Cogs was floating helplessly, but Skeleton King got to her first with one of his ship's weapons, a gooey substance like marrow, pulling her back into the crumbling Citadel.

"No!" Nova cried, trying to reach her, only to be held back by Sprx.

"Forget her, Nova! We can't reach her! We have bigger problems!" the red monkey argued.

Nova looked at him, asking what could be so important, and then she spotted Antauri and a blue-lipped Chiro whose skin was starting to frost over. Chiro, who didn't have a helmet or any supply of oxygen in space. No heating. "Chiro!" She glanced between him and the fleeing skeletal lord with Cogs before making her decision and returning to their human leader.

" _Need a lift?_ " Jinmay's voice asked as the flying Torso Tank came into view, it's cannon smoking from recent firing on the bone ship.

"Quickly, Team!" Antauri ordered as he was dragged with Chiro by Gibson and Otto to the vehicle. Time was of the essence. Through the hatch the group went, and Jinmay, upon confirming they were all inside, turned the vehicle around and sped around.

Swiftly, Gibson and Otto dropped Antauri, leaving him to Sprx and Nova, and took Chiro to Gibson's medical lab to get him into one of the healing chambers as fast as possible, praying they weren't too late. What a cruel twist of fate that would be.

 _.~*~._

Days passed and the Team healed and recuperated. Rebuilding began on the city, the Super Robot refueled and was reassembled, and yet Chiro did not stir. His body was being put through months of healing in just a few days inside that chamber of liquid that also gave him the nourishment that he needed.

Every hour, Gibson ran scans, checking the teen for activity, especially in the brain. Being attacked by both the _Scream_ and being sucked out into space had virtually shut the child down, and he wasn't sure if Chiro would survive. The longer it took for Chiro to stir, though, the more Gibson worried.

Humans were such fragile, silly, simple creatures, in his opinion. Why the Power Primate had seen fit to merge itself with human DNA to create Chiro was something Gibson could not understand. Why not a more superior species, such as one of them, or even a Ranlker, a type of alien like humans, but far stronger, smarter. Heck, there were so many species that the Power Primate could have chosen... and yet, a human had been chosen. Was this to give the boy humility? Make him less suspicious? It was so strange.

Sighing, the blue monkey turned off the scanner, once more seeing no activity whatsoever. He looked up to see Antauri walking up solemnly. "No change, I'm afraid."

The black monkey nodded and stopped in front of the chamber, staring at the youthful child with an unreadable expression.

"It may be... be time. He may not ever wake, Antauri," the scientist said quietly. He hated to admit such a thing, but as a scientist and medical doctor of sorts, Mr. Hal Gibson knew the facts of life. He couldn't just reprogram him like he could the rest of his team. "I guess not even the armor we designed for him was strong enough to protect him like we thought it would be." He was referring to Chiro's hyperform, his outfit and mask that not only protected him but enhanced and focused his abilities, created after several incidents when they were first training the child, who had had very little control over his supposed newfound powers.

"Have faith in the boy," Antauri responded simply. "He's in there. I can sense his presence. He's going to take a while to heal. I will take over watch. Go and get some rest, Gibson."

The blue simian frowned, but nodded. "All right. I'll be back in-"

"No. I can watch the child. You rest and relax. That is an order."

"Yes, Antauri," he responded wearily, leaving the lab and closing the door.

Antauri waited until he was sure he was alone before sitting in the lotus position and floating in the air. He closed his eyes and began to focus, calling out to the boy.

 _"Chiro, I know you are here. Answer me, please," Antauri said as he stared into the dark void. He stayed silent for a minute or two, listening and reaching out, trying to snag the boy's essence as he had many times before in the past few days. Catching a hook, he followed it back to where the teen lay huddled. "Chiro?" he asked, relief slipping into his voice at finally being allowed in._

 _"I... I've hurt you all," the teen whispered, not looking up. "Antauri, I betrayed you all."_

 _He shook his head in response, moving in even closer. "No, Chiro. That was not you. It may have been your body, but they were not your actions. You are not a cruel boy like Mandarin and Skeleton King tried to make you."_

 _"How do you know? I'm related to that crazy guy! He may not be my father, but he's still my uncle. I... his blood and evil still flow through me," the boy mumbled, not lifting his head. "I could end up just like him. For a while, I was."_

 _The monkey got down on one knee and gently reached out, lifting Chiro's chin. "No, Chiro. You are not like him. Your true self is gentle and true. His is corrupt and evil. You resisted for so long, just like the Alchemist had. In the end, he had to use other means in order to try and corrupt you, but your true self remained."_

 _"Alchemist? What Alchemist?" Chiro searched Antauri's yellow-green eyes with curiosity and confusion._

 _Antauri took a deep breath, knowing now was the time to explain what he knew. "Ah, so Cogs did not tell you everything, it would seem. Chiro, the Alchemist was the one who created us. The Alchemist, **not** Skeleton King, was your uncle, brother to your father, Clayton Carrington. While we trained Jinmay and tried to locate you, we did some digging around after Skeleton King ensnared us within his dreamworld yet again. Within that world was the Alchemist, who guided us to our forgotten past. When we had awakened from the nightmare, we ventured to the Savage Lands in search of the lab where we were created._

 _"There, we found the video journals of the Alchemist and a man named Clayton Carrington, also known as Captain Shuggazoom, a defender of the planet before we were fully created. We learned a great deal of things, including where you truly come from. You are from the planet Coronadol, the jewel world of the Veran Mystics." Antauri sighed for a moment before continuing telling him what he knew, how the boy was created and took a human form._

 _Chiro stared at him incredously, not quite sure what to make of this. He wasn't even from Shuggazoom? Not even technically human? "Wait,_ that's _why they wanted me?! For my power?"_

 _"Yes, Chiro, and if we had known then what we knew now, we would have-"_

 _"Kept me locked up," the teen muttered, looking away._

 _"Yes and no. Chiro, someone with your abilities should not have been allowed to roam the city alone. While we thought we were protecting you, allowing you a life without us, we were also unknowingly endangering you. For that, I apologize. If Nova and I had taken you back to the Super Robot that night we found you at the orphanage before the attack, none of this would have happened."_

 _Chiro looked up, startled. "Wait, you were there that night?" He thought back to the night before he was taken. "But I never saw any of you! I thought you hadn't cared!"_

 _Antauri chuckled. "We did care, which is why Nova and I went looking for you, leaving the others to stay with the Robot. We saw you sleeping and didn't want to wake you. We figured you'd be back the next day after school, so we weren't worried. You knew your way home."_

 _"I..." Was it possible? Had his fears been just that? Fears? Silly and ridiculous. Of course the Team had come looking for him! They wouldn't have just abandoned him! "Antauri, I... I'm so sorry for leaving. I had fully intended to come back that night, but decided to visit my childhood home. I had... I had wanted just one day where things had gone back the way before I woke you guys up. If I hadn't been so selfish..."_

 _Antauri moved in close and wrapped his arms around the teen, hushing his soft sobs with gentle words. "Everything is all right, Chiro. You're home now and safe. I promise." He let the teenager sob against him as he rubbed gentle circles upon his back, not saying anything further and letting Chiro get his hurt out._

 _Eventually, the teen wiped his tears and leaned back out of the warm embrace. There was one last question he had to ask, and he wasn't sure if he'd like the answer. "What about Cogs? I can't sense her anywhere."_

 _The black monkey frowned. He had known this question would be asked, and took his time to come up with something to explain how they had lost the lilac monkey. "I'm afraid Skeleton King took her before we could reach her. I'm sorry, Chiro, but at the time it happened it was either your life or hers. We will find her, though. Even now we scan the area, trying to locate your guardian."_

 _Chiro clenched his fists at that, angry at himself for once more bringing harm to her, the monkey he barely knew but missed dearly._

 _"It was not your fault, Chiro. Remember that. We are searching for her, and, someday, we will find her and reunite the Team as it was meant to be. For now, though, all I ask is that you come back to us. It's time to return to the world of the living. You have Gibson worried sick."_

 _Chiro chuckled a bit at that. He did quite enjoy worrying Gibson. "I guess I have been out for a while, but... my body still hurts, Antauri, though my scars have healed away. I... Will I ever be the same?"_

 _"No. You have been changed, but it's up to you whether to face these changes head-on, or allow them to overwhelm you."_

 _"Yeah, I guess... See you on the other side, Antauri."_

Returning to the waking world, Antauri sighed deeply and stretched. He looked up at the healing tube and smiled, seeing that Chiro's eyes were opening. Walking over to the control panel, he turned off the healing tube with a smile and drained the liquids. As he did that, he opened his cyber ears and called to his Team, telling them that their leader was finally awake.

* * *

 **Hi! Thanks for reading my first SRMT story! I originally wrote this seven years ago and decided to rewrite it since I had never published it. So many things changed and my ideas grew. I hope you've enjoyed reading! Please leave a review!**

 **I'm planning on Wednesday/Saturday weekly uploads. :)**


	10. Epilogue

**Hi, there! I've brought in a new chapter! Thanks to those who favorited and the two people who reviewed. I hope that you enjoy this next chapter! :) I've been working on all my stories, including a Dragon Booster story called "Winds of Change", so if you're a fan of my work and of that show, go check it out!**

 **I thank those who have reviewed, and all those who have viewed, for taking this journey with me as we finish out this story. I hope it comes out okay and you all enjoy it!**

* * *

 **.~*Epilogue*~.**

Weeks passed and the Hyperforce fell back into their usual-ish routine. It had taken some time to get used to all being back together, but none took their days together for granted anymore. Things had drastically for the Monkey Team, some for the better, some for the worse.

Nova often dreamed about her counterpart and what she could be going through after betraying Skeleton King like she had. She had known Cogs very little, but when they had been separated, it had felt like part of her had been ripped away. Was it because Cogs had been her prototype of sorts? Or was it something more? Perhaps it was a sisterly bond she had felt, something strange to her since all she had ever felt was brotherly.

Would Cogs be reprogrammed? Mandarin would probably make sure of it, which meant that their next meeting would most likely be on opposing sides, something Nova was not looking forward to. After the injuries Antauri had received, it was well known that Cogs could be lethal, even if she did not have weapons like they did.

As for Chiro... Nova wasn't sure what to think. So many things had changed with him. Panic attacks, nightmares... and flinching away from the team. Nova hoped that Gibson or Antauri would be able to find a solution.

Working on his usual experiments, Gibson began to question things once again. Had he been too late in getting Chiro to sickbay? Was that why the boy had changed so drastically? Or was it because of the psychological effects of what he had been through? Either way, Gibson was not pleased. How was he supposed to help the boy when he wouldn't even let him near?

No experiments were allowed on the boy, for each time they tried, Chiro would flip out and refuse treatments. Wouldn't even allow Antauri to search his mind to help him sort things out anymore after the black monkey had accidentally unlocked some images of the past few months that Chiro had managed to block.

There were also the hours of silence where the teen brooded, slipping in and out of awareness, or snapping at people. He always mumbled an apology after such occurrences, but it had set the Team on edge.

Sprx, meanwhile, sat in his room, polishing his magnets with pride. He was always pleased at how much they sparkled and reflected his face back to him. It was a simple thing, these magnets. They were his to control and never did anything he didn't want them to. Well, except for that time with Scrapperton.

Magnets were easy to understand. They were cold and held only the life he gave them. Teenage boys, on the other hand, were the opposite. So moody and ever shifting. Of course, it probably wasn't just that, but, to Sprx, things had to be that simple. He didn't want to think on other possibilities.

He had been forcing the events of the Citadel out of his mind, trying to rid himself of the memories of pain and suffering. It wasn't often they were captured and harmed in such a way. To be filled with such agony and evil. If Chiro hadn't regained himself when he had, they would have been lost like him and Cogs.

Antauri often dreamt of how close he had come to losing his battle with the bone lord, unable to protect Chiro. His nightmares would have him seeing the teen's corpse lay before him, bloodied and mutilated, with an accusing stare in the boy's lifeless eyes focused on him. It was those dreams that often sent him running towards Chiro's bedroom just to make sure he was still there.

There had been some nights where he had had to go in search of the boy, only to find him sitting in his cockpit or up in the Brain Scrambler just thinking. Antauri never made his presence known in those instances, simply waiting for Chiro to go back to bed, or taking him back himself when the teen fell asleep.

Even then, Antauri would spend most nights watching the boy as he fitfully slept, trapped in his own world of nightmares. It was early on in Chiro's recovery that the Team had learned of his dreams that often kept him awake at night. There were words, too, that the monkeys and Jinmay had to dodge around lest they trigger a panic attack in the child, though those were thankfully becoming less and less often.

Too often had the Team noticed Chiro zoning out during the day, during training, and sometimes even during battles from random space invaders or home threats. During those times, Jinmay would have to step in, especially in battle, to take his place.

Some of the Team had even talked about Chiro leaving the group, worried that if one of his panic attacks caused someone else to get hurt. The teen wouldn't even train if he was facing one of them, which Antauri knew was due to him blaming himself for what happened to cause them to be captured; not to mention his fear of being hurt by them again. Yes, Antauri was well aware of the things Chiro tried to hide, such as his flinching away from them if they came too close or startled him.

In one way, Skeleton King had succeeded. He had fractured the Team in a way they may not recover. If Chiro could not conquer the fears placed within his very being by the skeletal lord, he would never be able to lead the Hyperforce again.

In another part of the Super Robot, Otto walked along the catwalks, following Chiro as he wandered around the Robot on one of his usual walks to stay alone. The green monkey had seen how Chiro no longer left the place they called home to walk among the citizens of Shuggazoom like he used to. Instead, Chiro spent his bad days in his room, and his good days wandering about, but never outside. If Otto didn't know any better, he would have said that Chiro was afraid.

However, Otto did know better, and he knew that Chiro wasn't afraid, not really. He was nervous and anxious, but afraid? Pshaw, that's what Otto said to that! He had seen Chiro smile a few times since being back, but the smiles never lasted. Otto wanted to change that, which was why the green mechanic had taken to going out in the city with Jinmay and picking up ice cream or hover burgers and bringing them back to place in front of Chiro's door. The times that Chiro found them, the child would smile and glance around in confusion.

Otto was pleased with the progress he had made, and today he was going to step it up a notch. He was going to try to have a full conversation with his best friend. First, though, he had to see where Chiro was going to put his plan into effect.

Realizing that Chiro was heading to the engine room, the monkey quickened his pace to where he had been working the night before. He climbed down and set to work, waiting on Chiro to walk past.

Chiro did enter the massive room and looked around before picking a little-used path and continuing his walk. He was deep in thought, questioning his self-worth yet again. In the days since his return, the Team seemed to return to normal, but he could see that they were cautious around him, always watching.

Sure, he might zone out every so often or snap, but when they treated him like a glass figure that could break at any moment, he got annoyed. He was trying to work through this, but their constant questions were driving him nuts. Even Antauri was guilty of it!

' _Maybe I should just leave. It'd get me away from the stares, and it would keep them from danger caused by me. But where would I go? I can't stay on Shuggazoom. It's not like I belong here, anyway. I suppose I could catch the next transport ship heading for Woij, the planet where people go to be lost. Skeleton King wouldn't look for me there, and neither would the Team_ ,' he thought to himself. ' _But it's my power that Skeleton King wants... he'll find me, somehow, and then it'll just repeat all over again. I have to face this, but... but I have to do it alone. I don't want them hurt again because of me._ '

He hated what had been done to them because of him. How they had been tortured, put through the same thing he had, though on a much lesser scale. He knew, deep down, that it wasn't his fault. That the Aoiaus larvae controlling him had prevented him from really helping them, and that Mandarin and Skeleton King were to blame, but he was still wary and nervous. What if they did actually blame him and that's why they walked on eggshells? If that was the case, then it was definitely time for Chiro to leave and fight this on his own.

Yet, something nagged at him. If they blamed him, why did he randomly find his favorite ice cream or a hover burger in front of his door? Someone obviously still cared and wanted to let him know that. But who? He had asked Jinmay, but she had denied it.

"Aw, darn it!"

Blinking, Chiro stopped walking and looked around before noticing the green monkey working on something in front of him. Nervously, he thought about turning around and leaving, but he fought against it. "Otto?" he asked.

The monkey didn't look up, focused on whatever he was working on. "Oh, hey, Chiro."

"What's wrong?"

"This." Otto held up a broken object. "This transfigamafier broke, and I can't fix it without the right piece, and I can only get that in town."

"Oh. Jinmay could take you and translate."

"Nope. She's out on patrol, as are the others," Otto explained. "Problem is, if we don't get the piece, the Super Robot's gonna be dead in the water."

"Oh." Chiro frowned, knowing that was a big problem. "I..." He knew that he was the only other person other than Jinmay who could translate the monkeys, and if she was gone and the Super Robot was in that big of trouble, he'd just have to face going outside, no matter how anxious he was about it. Taking a deep breath and clenching his fists, he told Otto he would take him.

"Great!" Otto beamed happily. "Can I ride on your back?"

The teen blinked. "Uh, sure? Oof!" He managed a laugh at the joker's antics and smiled when Otto held onto his shoulders. "Well, then."

"Onward, noble steed!"

This time Chiro laughed for real and began walking, heading for the air tube shafts. Getting into the orange one, he left the engine room and went all the way down to the bottom exit level.

Shaking slightly, Chiro slowly approached the main doors, reaching out with a trembling hand to open them. He almost froze and asked Otto if the part was really necessary, but his sense of duty forbade him from doing so. Without another moment's hesitation, he opened the doors and, blinking, stepped into the sun.

Familiar scents filled his nostrils. The flowers in the park, the smell of freshly cooking hover burgers, the sweat of joggers, and the fresh air. He could hear children playing on a nearby playground, couples talking sweetly to each other as they walked past, and the random singing of a street musician. Everything seemed to be the same, and yet he looked at them all with a new perspective.

"This... It's just..." He lightly tugged at his sweater vest, glancing around. A few people stopped and stared at him in surprise, and whispers started up.

Otto, sensing his distress, quickly struck up a conversation. "It's so weird being out here with you! I feel so much taller!"

The teen blinked and glanced back at him. "Taller? Oh! Yeah, you kinda are now since you're on my back."

Otto grinned and climbed up higher, putting his feet on Chiro's shoulders and arms on his hair and looked around. "Wow, you have such a great view from up here! I should do this more often!" He smiled, pleased, when he heard Chiro's bark of laughter. He was making progress! "Hey, Chiro, do you think we could get some ice cream quick?"

"I thought you needed that part?"

"We do. But it's hot and I want ice cream!"

"Sure, sure, I suppose. Got my wallet, so order whatever you want."

"Woohoo!"

And so the afternoon went, with Otto purposely suggesting stops on the way to the store, and Chiro just going along with it, knowing that Otto didn't get out much. Truthfully, Chiro was starting to have as much fun as the green monkey was, and soon forgot about their main target and the stares he received as people began to realize that he was the human that lived with monkeys, the leader of the Hyperforce. The one who had disappeared.

Chiro was happy to finally have someone to walk and talk with outside the Super Robot, even if Otto was standing on his shoulders. It made him start to forget his troubles and fears and live normally again. The anxiousness was still there, but nowhere near as apparent as it had been.

Otto was pleased with how things were going. He was having fun with one of his best friends and was getting to see the city through Chiro's eyes, not the eyes of a protector. He wished the others were here to see it, to see how happy Chiro had become in just the span of a few hours. Perhaps if they had done like he had, Chiro would have come back to his usual self a lot sooner.

"Hey, Chiro, you remember when we first started training you? Hahaha, your powers were so raw and out of control. You barely had any control. When you zapped Sprx, it was so funny!"

"Uh, yeah, I do remember that... he wasn't exactly happy with me about it, if I recall. I didn't know what I was doing." He frowned a moment. "Weren't you mad at me for frying the robot, too?"

"Yeah, actually. That's when we knew we had to focus your powers, so we built you your armor!"

"It's worked pretty good, too. Given me the ability to focus my energies. Antauri actually forbade me from using my abilities until it was done. That didn't exactly work out very well, though."

"No... it didn't. I almost fried Gibson because of a buildup of static." He sighed and shook his head.

"I haven't seen Sprx laugh that hard in ages! And then he got shocked, too!"

Laughing, the duo walked back to the ice cream shop before heading to somewhere to sit.

"Hey, Otto, aren't we supposed to be getting something?" Chiro asked finally as they sat on a hill watching the sunset while eating their third ice cream cone.

"Huh? Oh. That part. Well, actually-" Otto paused, hearing a scream in the distance, followed by an explosion. He jumped up, shoving his cone in his mouth. "Come on, let's check it out!"

"I..." the teen hesitated, rooted to the spot.

"Chiro, come on! Someone could be hurt!"

Slowly, he nodded and got up, legs feeling like jelly. "L-Let's..." He swallowed back his fear. "Let's go."

Otto grabbed him and they began flying towards the scene with the green monkey carrying the boy, stopping when they realized what was going on. Formless invasion.

Chiro stumbled back, eyes wide and heart pounding. Where were the others? Why weren't they here, fighting these things?! Feeling a metal paw on his trembling hand, he looked down, spotting Otto beside him.

"You hang back. I got this." Otto gave him a reassuring smile and ran off into the fray.

Chiro stood, watching as his friend battled on his own, glancing occasionally to the skies and wondering where the others were. He glanced behind him and realized that this wasn't the only invasion force. The others were probably battling the other ones all over the city! There were multiple entrances to the city, after all, so it wasn't surprising. They were probably in teams of two or three, with Jinmay, and here was Otto, alone, because Chiro was too afraid to act.

"I... I have to help him," he whispered to himself, reaching into his pocket and grabbing his communicator transformer, but not activating it. He looked back, trying to spot Otto. There were so many Formless! Where was TV Monster? Mandarin? Even Cogs... Why was it just the ooze people?

"Ah, my hairless monkey... there you are. I was wondering if you were still too much of a coward to come fight."

Shivers ran down his spine at the voice of Mandarin, and he slowly turned around to stare at the floating orange monkey. "M-Mandarin..." he whispered, taking a step back.

Mandarin cackled and kicked him, sending him flying into a tree and knocking the transformer out of his hand. "Pathetic creature. You aren't even worth the effort to get you back!" He kicked him again. "No one's coming to your aid, either. They are too busy with bigger problems than worrying about you."

The teen groaned, cradling his bruised rib with an arm. "G-Go away! I-I defe-defeated you!"

"Yet, here I am. Pathetic boy, did you really think you could ever escape? You really are a foolish child!" Mandarin attacked him again, kicking him back and forth, laughing at his feeble attempts to fight back. "You won't even defend yourself! Have you fallen so low? Let your fears take control of you? Weakling!"

"I..." Chiro turned his gaze in the direction of Otto, who was currently being held hostage by several Formless, his limbs stretched out. "Otto!" he cried, struggling to get up.

"I don't think so." Mandarin hit him again, sending him rolling and skidding across the pavement.

Breathing heavily, the teen lifted his throbbing head to Otto's cries of his name. He was dazed and confused, partially forgetting what had just happened. He shook his head, trying to clear it.

"Leave him alone, Mandarin!" Otto growled, struggling to break free.

"Oh, I think not. Tell me, boy, how does it feel being so weak? How does it feel, I wonder, to leave behind your guardian, the monkey sworn to protect you? Oh, what fun I have picking at her circuits!"

Something began to stir in the teen at that. A warmth spread out from his chest, filling his entire body. Nearby, his transformer began to buckle from where it lay.

"Picking apart her memories and reprogramming her! Oh, splendid, splendid! She'll never disobey another order again when we're through with her! If she survives the proc-" Mandarin yelped as he was suddenly kicked to the side. Tumbling and rolling, he looked up when he came to a stop. His eyes widened at what he saw.

Transformer having flown to his hand, a Hyperformed-Chiro's eyes had turned a full green, and the glow of the Power Primate surrounded him as he growled fierce like an animal. The glow began to take form as Chiro rose off the ground and stood encased in the transparent body of a mighty ape.

Otto and Mandarin both stared at this transformation in slack-jawed shock. The teenager had activated the Inner Primate! But how? That move was fairly advanced, and Chiro had only just begun grasping his powers!

"But, h-how?!" Mandarin screeched, fear gripping his heart. "That move!"

" _MONKEY MIND SCREAM!_ " the teen shouted, and waves of green-ringed energy flowed from the ape's mouth against Mandarin, sending him flying far, far away and out of the picture. Satisfied that the orange menace was gone, Chiro turned to Otto and began smashing Formless left and right, freeing the green simian from his imprisonment as he wiped the floor with the ooze creatures.

Otto jumped out of the way, not wanting to be squished at this sudden development. He was just barely aware of the other battle-worn monkeys and Jinmay flying down beside him, all staring in shock.

"W-What the..." Sprx's eyes widened. "Is that..."

"It is," Antauri said gravely. "Chiro has activated his Inner Primate."

"He seems animal-like," Gibson muttered, brow creasing.

"It's the Inner Primate, Gibson. Of course it's going to be animal-like!" Nova said, elbowing him in the side.

Jinmay glanced at Otto. "How'd this happen? What's the Inner Primate?"

"Let Antauri explain." He raised his voice. "Hey, Chiro! Problem's over! You got them all!"

Chiro turned to them, his eyes still a full fierce green. In his current state, he couldn't distinguish friend from foe. He was enraged at what Mandarin had said, and his mind had snapped. Raising a fist, he brought it down powerfully in front of them, sending out shockwaves that sent them all flying.

Antauri was the first to recover, and he was up in the air in seconds, realizing that Chiro had lost control. After all, he had had no prior training on the Inner Primate, so it was no wonder this was happening. " _Chiro_! Listen to me! The battle is over! It is time to wake up!" He held a ghost claw out in front of him, using the added help to reach the child's mind.

Chiro struggled against it for a moment, but finally his eyes returned to his normal blue and the ape fizzled and vanished.

Antauri grabbed him before he could fall to the ground. Worriedly, he looked him over, but was unable to find any permanent damage as he brought him back down to the grass, gently laying him down. Gibson hurried over, making sure he wasn't injured.

The teen groaned, opening his eyes and looking up at him. "Ow... What happened?" His voice was hoarse and pain-filled, exhaustion creeping in.

"Something that we will have to work on now that you have awoken it," the black monkey chuckled.

"I... I didn't hurt anybody, did I?"

"Psh, only Mandarin, kid, and a few dozen Formless." Sprx grinned, knowing that now was not the time to mention that Chiro had turned on them. After all, it had been out of his control. "Good job."

"I... I fought Mandarin?"

"And won!" Gibson responded, pleased. "Now, let's get you back to the Robot so the cleaning crews can get to work." He looked beyond the others at the orange-jumpsuit workers, who were already setting to work on cleaning up the city. His eyes lingered on one that had a long, awkwardly shaped neck, but paid him no mind, despite his staring.

"What about Otto's part?"

"Part?" Nova glanced at the green mechanic.

"Oh, uh... about that. It's not actually broken. I just wanted ice cream!" Otto said cheerfully.

"Otto! You endangered Chiro for _ice cream_?!" Nova scowled.

Before the others could get a word in, they all turned at the sound they had thought was lost.

Chiro was laughing his head off. He couldn't believe he had fallen for Otto's scheme, but he was glad he had. He felt like his old self again, strong and true. "Monkey Team," he said finally, regaining his composure, "let's go home."

 _.~*~._

The screams had long since died away from her lips as she stared forward, her connecting helmet pulled back and wires connected to the computer her brain. New signals and codes went through her matrix as rewiring began on her circuitry. After weeks of modifications being done to her body, with new weapons, the time to finish their work had come.

Mandarin scowled, glad he was hovering as he worked, as he had hurt his leg in the battle with the empowered child. He had asked Skeleton King to allow him to work solo on the project of Cogs' reprogramming and modifications, and to his surprise, his lord had granted him the permission, despite his failure with the Aoiaus.

The orange monkey did not want to have anyone else work on his purple simian other than himself. It had already been proven that forcing evil into her had not worked, but if they could reprogram her, the odds of success were that much higher.

Rewiring the last circuit, Mandarin began to disconnect the cables and reattached her helmet. Flicking a switch on her back, he brought her back to life.

It took a few moments for her to warm up and come on-line, but she opened her emerald eyes and stared at him.

"Ah, my dear CG-5. Splendid that you are back online. Let's run some tests, shall we?" He ran her through walking, running, speaking, problem solving, and every kind of test he could think of, and when she was done, he smiled and produced a holographic device. Throwing it to the floor and activating it, he stepped back as a form of Chiro appeared. "CG-5, what is your mission?"

Her eyes narrowed at the projection and she aimed a swift throw of her sharp pinchers at his throat. Had he been really there, his neck would have two deep gouges in it if not severed completely. "Mission prerogative, eliminate Chiro," she growled fiercely.

 _.~*~._

Chiro knew none of this, however, having believed that Mandarin's words were just that; words. Instead, he had finished a delicious dinner with his Team, eating with them for the first time in weeks, and laughing again. The Team had played video games together well into the night, just having one night to goof off, and the party didn't stop until Chiro fell asleep on the floor, Otto also fast asleep beside him, using him as a pillow.

The others eventually, too, after having fetched blankets and cord rechargers and plugged themselves in [making sure Otto was, too], and set up their slumber party of sorts beside the boy. While they had each set to sleep in their own spot, by the time morning rolled around and Jinmay discovered them after her night patrol, they were all curled up together around Chiro, fast asleep.

It was the dawn of a new day.

* * *

 **Hi! Thanks for reading my first SRMT story! I originally wrote this seven years ago and decided to rewrite it since I had never published it. So many things changed and my ideas grew. I hope you've enjoyed reading! Please leave a review!**

 **I hope the ending to this story was worthwhile!**


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